How to get money from people who owe you?

A debtor is a person or a company that owes you specified sum of money. If you have a debtor, it is time to think about recovering your money. Your steps will definitely depend on the size of the debt you are owed. The bigger the debt is the more serious steps you should take to get your money back. You should also have enough information about your debtor in order to be able to prove that you are owed a settled amount of money.

If you are in business, you are likely to face with debtors. You must be ready to these problems and you should do something about people or companies who owe you money but always find excuses for non-payment. This situation can lead to further delays and as a result it will end up with no payment at all. You should be ready to any kind of debt collection practices (http://www.doesnotpaybills.com/).

Below you can find some useful tips that will help you to get back the money you are owed:

1. Stay calm and polite

When you are obliged to negotiate with your debtors, it is hard to stay calm, but it is a necessary thing to do. Always talk to your debtors in a professional manner. Such behavior will protect your company’s reputation and attract customers to your business. If you stay calm and polite, this will help your debtors to understand your financial situation and they will apply efforts to pay as much as they can as soon as possible.

2. Contact your debtor

When you are in a process of recovering a debt, the first thing you should do is to contact your debtor directly and clarify all facts. You can send an email or make a phone call and ask the debtor if he is ready to arrange money for a payment. Some people just forget about the money they are owed, so it is some kind of a reminder from your side. So now you have your money and a satisfied customer is happy to conduct a business with you again.

3. Write a formal letter

If you have not got any payment from the debtor, even after making a phone call or writing an email, it is time to send a formal letter. You should send a letter to the debtor’s address and indicate that there is an overdue payment that is needed to be paid. This letter should contain all the information related to the payment. Write about the parties that are involved in this matter. Send copies of all the documents that are related with the debt. Specify the date by which you expect to receive the payment. Remind your debtor to contact you in writing or by phone, if he has any remarks, disputes or questions concerning this matter. Describe all the details and future steps you will take if the payment is not received on time. But remember about the first tip, that you should always stay calm and polite. Try to avoid being drawn into disputes and do not allow your debtors to drag out the correspondence. Never threaten any legal actions that you are not ready to follow up in case of non-payment.

4. Contact your solicitor

If you do not get any response to your letters and the debtor continues to ignore your requests for a payment, it is better to discuss the situation with a solicitor who has experience in debt recovery cases. He can write a formal letter to your debtor and inform him about the legal actions that can be applied to him if he continues ignoring the payment. Usually solicitor’s letters produce positive results.

5. Claim for a payment

Even after passing all the above steps you are sill unable to receive the payment, the time has come to file a claim to receive your money. You can prepare your claim on your own or contact a lawyer to get a professional help in this matter. Do not forget to save all the correspondence or anything else that you have used during the negotiation with your debtor. This will help you to prove all your claims.

6. Debt collection

If you are still unable to get you money back and all your debtor’s promises to pay are not kept, you should start serious collection activities. You can contact debt collection agencies who provide you with different services in order to collect your debts. When a certain debt is overdue for a long period of time, pass all the bills to any debt collection agency. Do not wait for too long, as the more you wait, the less chances you have to get your money back.

7. Taking a debtor to court

If a debtor continues refusing to pay or even disputes the debt, the time has come to take court actions. Usually taking debtors to court consumes a lot of time and it can cost lots of money. Remember that this action is usually used as a last measure. However, before making any steps towards this direction, you are recommended to contact competent authorities and seek for a legal advice. It is very important to remember that before going to a court, you must be sure in your rightness. If the court rules against you, you will be obliged to cover not only your costs but your debtor’s as well. It is also very difficult to recover a debt, if your debtor declared himself as a bankrupt. The outcome of the affair depends mostly on how much money is involved into the debt. Any legal consultant will not advise you to go to a court if your claim is rather small. You can represent yourself on your own at small local claims courts. Other claims are usually heard in the high courts and you need a lawyer to represent you.

You must not feel guilty about collecting the money you are owed from your debtors. The debtor should feel guilty, because he did not meet his obligations. The truth is on your side and you have all rights to collect your money.