How to succeed in legal proceedings?
“A bad out-of-court settlement is better than a good trial”. In some cases, however, legal proceedings will be necessary!
When your debtor doesn’t respond to all your amicable reminders: calls, e-mails, letters and formal notices, legal proceedings are the last resort for recovering your debt.
How to make a success of your legal proceedings?
Advice from our judicial recovery.
Some precautions inherent in legal collection proceedings
Before starting legal proceedings, it’s essential to check the evidence in your possession proving the existence of your claim.
Without convincing evidence, legal proceedings are pointless, and would only result in you having to pay the costs of such proceedings.
A few points to check before starting legal proceedings:
- Complete, documented file with documents signed by the debtor.
If you know the reason for the dispute: do you have sufficient documentation to contradict the opposing party’s arguments? - Check the debtor’s solvency before starting legal proceedings.
- Check the cost of a procedure to make sure it’s worth it, in relation to the amount of your claim.
Let’s take a closer look before starting legal proceedings. You can also read our article on best practices in legal collection proceedings.
1. Supporting documents
You need to collect all the supporting documents for your claim.
It’s best to have a complete file with signed copies.
These elements are essential in preparing for legal proceedings.
Here are a few examples of important supporting documents: quotations, contracts, signed delivery notes, signed purchase orders and invoices.
2. Your debtor’s solvency
Given the likelihood of company insolvency, and the slowness of legal proceedings, it’s vital to carry out a solvency investigation beforehand.
Unfortunately, if your debtor is already in a situation of insolvency, your proceedings may not be successful.
What’s more, if your debtor is already insolvent, you won’t be able to recover the costs of legal proceedings.
In the case of an insolvent debtor, it may be strategic to obtain a title deed to secure the claim, thereby breaking the statute of limitations.
In fact, legal proceedings are often initiated when the debtor is insolvent, so it is worthwhile obtaining a title deed and checking solvency at this stage, in order to direct enforcement proceedings or postpone them in the hope that the debtor’s fortunes will improve.
3. The amount of your claim
Given the amounts involved in legal proceedings, some debts may not be worth collecting.
Before taking the plunge, ask collection agencies about their flat-rate or actual-cost rates.
Of course, all or part of the costs incurred may be charged to the bad faith debtor.According to our expertise, it is useful to initiate legal proceedings above a certain threshold, €1,500 seems an appropriate amount.
Why delegate your collection management?
As we keep telling our customers, debt collection can quickly can quickly become a time-consuming job for a company..
Identifier la créance, relancer et finalement transférer le dossier à un expert pour engager une procédure judiciaire.
Let SSPCOLLECT, the collections expert, assist you.
With SSPCOLLECT, you get a service that guides and steers the collection procedure from start to finish.
You’ll have a single point of contact for all your procedures.
In the first instance, we carry out amicable management through reminder by telephone or by postby email and sms..This amicable period is important to identify the levers for successful legal proceedings. If amicable collection is unsuccessful, we set up the appropriate legal procedure procedure. Our network of bailiffs and lawyers enables us to handle cases throughout France and abroad. international.
Reminder of the judicial collection procedure
The legal process is divided into two parts: obtaining a judgment and enforcing it.
And it’s this second part that often poses the problem.
Indeed, many companies incur costs when the debtor’s solvency is very precarious and the probability of default high.
To keep costs down and guarantee the recovery of your claim, we offer packages that cover all the costs of legal proceedings, from obtaining a judgment to enforcement…
Our short turnaround times enable us to set up legal proceedings quickly if necessary.
Our approach and advice are fundamental, and this is what we are committed to providing to our customers who call on our experts.