County Court Proceedings
Our solicitors are vastly experienced in assisting individuals and companies of all sizes to facilitate and advise upon county court proceedings to recover debt. At Blackstone Solicitors, we are able to advise many different types of client on the process involved, no matter the complexity of the circumstances being considered and the nature of the debt recovery.
For more information about how our team of corporate solicitors can help, contact us on 0345 901 0445 or complete our online enquiry form and a member of the team will call you back at a convenient time.
Our Approach
If you are a company or firm and are owed money, there are a number of options to consider in recovering this debt. However, if you have exhausted these avenues without success, taking someone to court can be an effective method of debt recovery.
Blackstone Solicitors are known for our efficiency, attention to detail and ability to get things done; qualities much needed when addressing county court proceedings. We will provide professional, pragmatic advice based on our years of experience in this specialist area.
Our team will do all that is necessary to ensure you are properly and robustly represented in any claim and will put your interests first at all times. Although the procedures are designed to be quick and easy to operate, they can often be highly technical and we will ensure you are in the best possible position for a successful outcome.
Why Legal Help is Important
It should be remembered that county court proceedings collection can take place in companies of any size and in any industry.
The process can be complex, potentially stressful and can be considered to be
incredibly important. It can have an impact on you and your business, both in the short and long term – it is therefore imperative that you have the best legal experts at your side, not only to ensure everything progresses as it should, but also to make sure both you and your business benefits from the best possible terms of any agreement.
Our Services
If you send a Letter Before Action (LBA) to your debtor but you do not receive a satisfactory response then the next stage in the legal process is to issue legal proceedings through the County Court. This is a formal process where the debtor will be sent a court form requiring them to pay the debt, plus interest and costs within 14 days. In certain circumstances, interest may also be added to the debt claimed.
It is important to consider whether proceeding with a claim through the courts will actually result in getting paid. The court cannot help if your customer has no money, assets or anything else of value. If your customer is a limited company, you should bear in mind that there may not be any assets in the company’s own name. This may not stop you obtaining judgment, but it may make it difficult if you need to take further action to make your customer pay. Further, if the debtor already has County Court Judgements (CCJs) against them, it will be less likely that the debt will be paid. You can find out if an individual or a company at a particular address has unsatisfied court judgments against them by searching the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines.
If your customer admitted the claim and made an offer to pay before judgment, you may already know something about your customer’s finances. This may help you to decide whether enforcement action is likely to be worthwhile. If you know little or nothing, you can ask the court for an ‘order to obtain information from the judgment debtor’. This is not a method of enforcement and it will not force your customer to pay. But it is a way of questioning your customer about income or turnover, assets and outgoings. If your customer is a limited company and you know the name of one of its directors or other officer, you can find out about the company’s assets by asking for an order to obtain information from a director or other officer of the company.
If your customer is a limited company and seems unlikely to be able to pay the judgment quickly, this may be an indication of cashflow problems. In these circumstances, you may wish to consider winding up (Insolvency) proceedings. However, these procedures can be complex and expensive and you should seek legal advice before pursuing this option
Whatever the circumstances are of the county court proceedings, we ensure full compliance with corporate laws and regulations, so that you can be sure that the process is addressed on a firm financial and legal basis.
We will work with you to ensure all financial and legal aspects of any proposed action is properly managed. We are able to assist with any aspect of this and will guide you through the technicalities in a clear and concise way. We have a team of experienced solicitors well versed in the process who are ready to assist you.
Get in Touch
Find out more about our services and how our commercial litigation solicitors can assist you and your business by getting in touch. We have offices in Cheshire and London and are able to serve clients across the North West, including Chester and Manchester, as well as throughout the UK and also overseas.
Call us on 0345 901 0445 or complete our online enquiry form and we will be in contact as soon as we can.
