Letter Before Action – what is a letter before action?
If you are owed money by a debtor who has failed to pay your invoice, you may need to start legal action to recover it. The first step is to send a letter before action. Quite often, a letter before action drafted and sent by an expert debt recovery solicitor is enough to make the debtor pay, or at least enter into negotiations with you to work out an acceptable payment plan.
Why Do I Need To Send A Letter Before Action?
If you wish to pursue someone through the courts for outstanding money, you are required to follow a strict pre-action protocol.
If you do not, then you could lose out, for example, by not recovering your legal costs if you win your case.
Where your type of claim does not have a set pre-action protocol, you should follow the practice direction on pre-action conduct, which has a similar first step.
Before sending a letter before claim, you should go through any internal debt recovery process you have in place or, if you are an individual, make clear attempts to obtain payment.
This is an important part of the process and the court may need to see in due course that you have done all you can to recover the money owed before commencing legal action. This is because litigation is viewed by the courts as being a last resort.
What Is A Letter Before Action?
The pre-action protocol is intended to give both parties the chance to negotiate and avoid the need for a court hearing. A letter before action, also referred to as a pre-action protocol letter, is the first official step and sets out clearly for the debtor the following:
- Your name
- Your address
- A summary of the claim you are making and the facts involved
- A schedule of the amounts owed
- A time limit in which the recipient is required to respond, which should be at least 14 days if the debtor is a business and at least 30 days if the debtor is an individual
- Confirmation that you will be commencing court action if you do not receive payment
The letter should also refer to the documents that are being included by way of evidence in support of your claim.
While a letter before action is not part of the pre-action protocol for a debt owed by one business to another, it is still widely used in this situation.
Solicitors For A Letter Before Action?
We have solicitors on our books from across the UK and Ireland, including Letter Before Action lawyers in England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
How Much Does Our Service Cost?
Our service in matching you with a Letter Before Action solicitor is free. We will connect you with an expert in this area of law and you can have an initial conversation with them to see whether they will be able to help you. Once you instruct them to act for you, you will be liable for their costs. We do not make any charge to you for our service.
Why Do I Need A Solicitor For A Letter Before Action?
The letter before action will form an important part of your court documents, should the issue end up going before a judge, and for this reason, it is crucial to ensure that it contains all the necessary information and includes all relevant documentary evidence.
Instructing a legal expert in debt recovery means that you can be sure that your letter before claim is legally sound.
A letter from a solicitor is also more likely to prompt payment of the debt than a letter from the creditor, particularly where recovery has not been successful to date. It will be seen as an escalation of the attempts to obtain the money as well as notifying the debtor that you have engaged professional help in dealing with the recovery.
Letter Before Action Solicitors – Solicitors Near Me For Letter Before Action UK
Our letter before action solicitors can take on your debt recovery case for you, issuing a valid letter or claim before action and, should this not be enough to secure repayment, advise and represent you in the next steps in obtaining the money you are owed.
Letters before action issued by solicitors typically have a high success rate in prompting payment of outstanding debts, meaning any further legal action is unnecessary.
Solicitors Near Me Who Deal With Letter Before Action
We can put you in touch with a local solicitor who deals with letter before action and other debt recovery help and advice and ensure you are matched with an expert who will be able to represent you throughout your debt claim issue.
Our solicitors are hand-picked by us, taking into account the expertise they offer and the standard of service provided.
To be connected to a specialist letter before action solicitor near to where you live, please either call us now on 0845 1391399 or complete a Free Online Enquiry.