What to Do if Someone Owes You Money? – Debt Recovery Advice
23rd February 2023
Knowing what to do if someone owes you money can be the difference between getting paid and not getting your money back.
Being owed money by a person or company can put a lot of pressure on you, which can delay the recovery process even more if you have no clue where to turn.
No one should have to trawl through the internet to find out how to recover money successfully, which is why we have put together this expert guide.
DCBL provides the one solution for debt resolution, from the first reminder letter to agent enforcement.
What to Do if Someone Owes You Money? – Contents
- Someone Owes You Money, What Can You Do?
- Recovering Your Debts Independently
- Instruct a Debt Collection Agency – DCBL
It is no secret that individuals and businesses can be owed money for multiple reasons by their debtors.
More than half of UK businesses say that late payments inhibit growth, stop them from meeting wage demands, and prevent them from paying suppliers on time.
A private individual could owe you money, such as a family or friend to whom you have lent money as a loan with the intention that they pay you back.
If a company owes you money, it could be due to clients not paying bills or invoices. Or, you might not have been paid for goods or services that you have provided.
Whatever the reason, it is only fair that you exhaust all your options to retrieve what is rightfully yours.
There are multiple options available when reclaiming your debt. However, the route you take will depend on factors including:
- The size of your debt
- The evidence you have to prove regarding the debt such as physical documentation.
- Can the debtor afford to pay you back?
Someone Owes You Money, What Can You Do?
Does someone owe you money who is based in the UK? You need to understand several key pieces of information before recovering your debt.
There are many options if you’re owed money which means it will make it easier for you to take action to recover debts owed to you today.
You must first consider the three main options that are available to you:
- Depending on how long the debt has been unpaid, you may feel there is no point in recovering it.
- Could you try and collect the debt independently?
- Instruct a professional debt collection agency to collect the money.
When trying to answer the question “What to Do if Someone Owes You Money?”, understanding the recovery routes will help you make more successful decisions.
Although we never advise that you not collect your debt, you must understand why individuals may do this:
- The debt is from an important client, and they don’t want to risk confrontation and damage relationships.
- They could be too busy to chase the debt.
- They consider the debt ‘too small’ to chase.
- They do not understand the implications of a build-up of unpaid invoices.
Debts, however big or small, should never be ignored. Ignoring debts can have a detrimental impact on cash flow.
Recovering Your Debts Independently
In some scenarios, having to escalate the recovery of a debt is not the most sensible option. Before escalating, we advise you to pursue all other routes available.
It is important to consider factors including:
- Are you likely to win your case?
- Is the amount they owe enough to cover the potential costs of retrieving your debts i.e., court fees?
- Does your debtor have any money or assets?
Attempting to recover your debt independently can be the best option. Here an informal agreement is made between both parties. This saves the time of both the creditor, the debtor and the court.
Taking a case to court has the potential to become expensive. Therefore, avoiding court action also saves costs.
‘What to do if someone owes you money?’ Sometimes, the easiest and quickest solution is to contact the debtor.
However, recovering debt independently also comes with some downfalls. When debt collection impacts resources and staff time, it costs money.
Some debt collection processes are lengthy, as the company can suffer by impacting staff activities.
In these circumstances, the internal debt collection process begins to be damaging. Lengthy debt chases can hinder the future productivity of staff activities, and potential sales opportunities can be missed.
Instruct a Debt Collection Agency – DCBL
Instructing a debt collection agency is the most efficient way of collecting an unpaid debt. A debt collector will have the expertise and knowledge to collect the money you are owed.
DCBL is the UK’s leading debt collection agency, and we guarantee professional recovery quickly and time-consciously.
If you have money owed to you and the debtor has absconded, our debtor tracing service can help locate the person who owes the money.
Partnering with our sister company, DCB Legal, we have fully trained solicitors with the legal authority to do whatever they need to recover your money.
Should your case require legal action, our One Solution allows you to sit back and let us take care of the court claim and any other actions.
The person or company owing the money to you will be more likely to pay if they have received contact from a debt resolution and high court enforcement agency.
Using agency experts will save time internally and influence a successful recovery of the debts owing by your debtor.
Click here for a free debt recovery quote!
