Debt Recovery Service Solicitors | Judgment
If you have come to this stage of the debt recovery process one of two things has happened:
1. The debtor has not responded to legal proceedings
2. The debtor has defended the claim made against him.
This brings us to the next stage of the process when you seek judgment for the claim made against your debtor for non-payment of debts.
Step 4 – Judgment Of Your Debt Recovery Case
1. Debt Recovery of a Non-Defended Case (The debtor does not challenge/defend then claim made against them):
In the event when your debtor has not responded to legal proceeding you move straight to judgment. The type of judgment received is in favour of the debtor and is called a summary judgment, which is issued in the relevant court depending on the amount of the debt (see step 3). If you obtain Judgment against the debtor in an undefended claim you may be awarded costs.
2. Debt Recovery of a Defended Case (The debtor has challenged/defended the claim made against them)
Every debtor does have the right to defend a claim made against them. The process will be different depending on the Court in which proceedings have been issued. At this point, your debt recovery solicitor in Carlisle Solicitors will contact you to discuss the next steps. In this conversation we will discuss the debtor case; is it a strong case? Is the debtor defending the case simply to delay you in recovering your debt? What are your debt recovery options at this point? Together we will discuss your options and you can instruct us on how to move forward.
What happens next?
Each case is different and to move forward we must also take into account the Court in which the case will proceed. At this point, your best option is to talk to your debt recovery solicitor if the debtor defends the case and we can move forward together.
If you obtain Judgment against the debtor in a defended case, it is up to the Judge as to whether you may be awarded costs which you can recover from the debtor and this also includes whether you will be entitled to recover interest on the debt from the date of Judgment.
Once Judgment has been issued if your debtor pays the debt then you have no need to move forward in the debt recovery process. However, if you are still encountering problems in collecting the debt from your debtor there are some enforcement options available to you.
