recovering small debt

[mahoonas]

The law and reality do not always correlate and I would like to know of people’s experiences of recovering small debt from companies and CCs. In the few times that I needed to recover debt my legal advise told me it would not be worth the trouble and I just wrote off the debt. By small debt I am referring to a few thousand rand.

I currently operate under a CC.

Thanks for your comments in advance.

[garthu]

Small claims court?? I think as long it is below R7000 (think its still that). No attorneys involved or costs, just some time.

[IanF]

This were you learn the hard way to ask for a deposit upfront. The school fees are worth it. Most decent people don't have a problem with this. A cc can't use the small claims court to collect money.
What has worked for me is to say return the goods as you haven't paid. It is great with business cards as you phone the number on the card and say the cards haven't been paid for. It has been a while since I have done it.

[Sieg]

Collecting debt

Close corporations and companies are precluded from instituting claims in the Small Claims Court.

Sieg

[insulin]

Go to a legitimate dept-collector agency. Make sure that they are registered by the Council for Dept Collectors http://www.debtcol-council.co.za/ Ask how much it will cost and if it’s worth it get them to get your money back. They are effective if they do their job by the laws that govern them. Make sure they are professional this is important.

[garthu]

Close corporations and companies are precluded from instituting claims in the Small Claims Court.

Thanks didnt know that! Makes sense though..be 1000's!

[Dave A]

If you haven't got all your ducks perfectly in a row, about the only practical way to go about it is to give it to a "no risk" debt collection agency, write it off and be happily surprised if it ever arrives. Then change your systems to reduce the risk.

Get deposits.
Use strong signed contracts with unambiguous clauses about collection costs being claimable on an attorney client scale.
Make clients fill out credit applications before they get any credit.
Do a credit check.
Actually call the references supplied.
Insist on stuff like ID numbers and registration details where applicable.
Turn anything risky or suspect down.
Stop bending over backwards by extending credit to new, unknown clients to get the job.
Get the invoice out fast.
Call the client before payment is due and make sure they're satisfied with the product/service.
Follow up on late payments promptly.
Every now and then sue someone all the way no matter what. This helps most if you pick your target carefully and you've got all your ducks in a row.
Include a bad debt allocation in the budget you use to set prices.

[insulin]

Bit hash Dave but yes if someone is taking your money take that person down chances are they are taking from other people as well. But never handle these cases yourself. Get the professionals. Because you may get aggravated and say something that you might regret. Let the professionals handle these things trust me you get people that will turn your harsh words into ammunition to be used against you.

[Dave A]

Bit hash Dave

Harsh is honest businesses going under and hardworking people losing jobs because dishonest people don't pay for goods or services they ordered and received. Even if the business doesn't go under, it is the honest, ethical clients that are paying for the non-paying clients.

Now tell me my strategy is harsh.

[Sieg]

Dave's list is excellent.

But I'd like to add another one:
Get the debtor to instruct a third party who owes the debtor, to pay over directly to you, for example: get the transferring attorney to pay the electrician directly instead of the Seller, who is the actual debtor. [I can see Dave nodding his head in agreement . . . ]

In Law, it means taking a cession of a claim.

Sieg

[insulin]

Yes you are right and I cannot argue with your facts. However and this happened to a friend that did work for the mining industry. He was contracted to build a small office building. This building was approved by the people who contacted him. But those people never had approval from upper management thanks to some kind of miscommunication. Anyway he ended up building the building but never got paid. He then went to court and the case became nothing short of a sick joke. In short he ended up losing the building also he had legal fees. It nearly crippled him. He never got any more work from that mine. So he not only lost the building the money and had to pay legal fees he also was taken of the vendor list. It was in all a triple loss... So like you said get your ducks in a row and make sure that the right people are signing the papers! Then yes take them to court and make an example out of them but make damn sure it is not you that end up being the example.

[Dave A]

[I can see Dave nodding his head in agreement . . . ]

Damn right, Sieg. Although even this is not entirely fool proof. When sales collapse there is this tendency among some firms to just close the file without letting the creditors know despite the cession.

For anyone else reading this and for the record, this is not a problem I've ever had with Sieg (for which I am most grateful)

make damn sure it is not you that end up being the example.

Wise words, that.