Defended Debts
Since 1 April 2014, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been responsible for the regulation of consumer credit activities, in place of the Office for Fair Trading (OFT).

If your debtor produces a defence then we will advise individually on each case as to what is needed. This can range from:

  • Applying for Summary Judgment where the debtor has no prospects of success; or
  • Advising you about the prospects of success and how to achieve the best outcome. If you do not have reasonable prospects of success, we will not hesitate so to advise you.

We have the skills to progress any case which has reasonable prospects of success and we rarely lose.

The Facts

The main reason for success is that we treat every case very seriously. You may think your claim is right, your solicitor may think your claim is right, and ‘right’ will prevail in the end. We know that ‘right’ does not always prevail and a sloppy approach can lead to good cases being lost.

We are therefore completely focused on the Courtroom. Evidence which can be used in the Courtroom is all that really matters. Once the case is defended, you can expect very close inspection of the case and robust testing of the witnesses. If the sales staff have over-promised and now have poor memories, now is the time to find out.

Cases are rarely won on legal points, most are fact specific so we concentrate on the facts.

The Law

Sometimes cases do turn on the law. Our wide experience means there is nothing much new, and where it is new you can expect thorough research. We have many contacts in England, Wales, Scotland and abroad to help recover debts in different jurisdictions and in difficult circumstances.

The Procedure

The Civil Court process underwent a complete revolution over 10 years ago, but it is constantly evolving and will substantially change again in April 2013. You need solicitors who know their way round the Civil Procedure Rules and we know how to get the best out of the Court system.

Justice delayed is justice denied.

We can quote you hourly rates or other flexible fee arrangements for your particular case, though each case is different.

  • How much is involved (costs recovery is much improved for debts over £10,000.00)
  • How confident are you of winning?
  • Has your customer the means to pay?
  • Does this case matter to your business in other ways – if you gave up would more customers think payment is only voluntary?
  • Would a claim stir up a nasty counterclaim?

Only you can decide whether to proceed but if you do wish to proceed, then speak to us and we can do our best to advise you whether to proceed or put it down to experience. If you do have to put it down to experience, we might be able to help you prevent it happening again.