Healy O'Connor

Debt Recovery

Debt recovery has become a crucial part of any business. A consistent flow of money is a must for any business no matter how big or small. Cashflow and regular payments are important for competitiveness and in many cases survival. At Healy O’Connor Solicitors LLP, we understand the importance of getting paid and as a consequence provide efficient and cost effective Debt Recovery solutions to our clients.

Utilising the latest technology we can provide a streamlined service to our clients from sending demand letters through to issuing proceedings, obtaining judgement and enforcement. Our Debt Recovery service is also delivered through the use of case management technology ensuring that we act decisively and never miss a deadline.

Furthermore using our Debt Recovery Instruction Form we can guarantee high speed action and same day issuing of initial demand letters.

Our approach to Debtors is courteous, yet firm. We can offer our clients a risk/reward profile of the debt and we will remain dedicated to finding a solution to the Debt Recovery problem until the money is recovered.

Incorporated into our Debt Recovery service are the following principles:

  • Efficiency
  • Cost effectiveness
  • Transparency
  • Regular updates

In particular our service includes the following:

  • Pre-legal action to include Free Late Payment Demand Letter (subject to a fair usage policy)
  • Issue of District Court/Circuit Court/High Court proceedings.
  • Substituted service applications where the Debtor ignores the Court papers.
  • Defended hearings.
  • Drafting judgement papers and applying for Judgement.
  • Enforcement of Judgements.
  • Instalment Order/Committal proceedings.
  • Judgement mortgages.
  • Foreign Judgements.
  • Retention of title clauses.
  • Advice on in house debt avoidance practice and procedures.

We provide court representation in all courts, from the District Court to the High Court depending on the amount of debt being recovered.

 

The District Court covers Debts up to €6,348

The Circuit Court covers Debts of  between €6,348 and €38,092

The High Court covers Debts over €38,092

 

While proceedings are commenced and Judgement sought in the appropriate court depending on the amount of the debt, Enforcement proceedings brought with a view to obtaining an Instalment Order are always taken in the Debtor’s local District Court irrespective of the amount of the debt.

 

How does our service work
You can choose from one of the following basic sequences in recovering debt.

  • Letter Before Action / Late Payment Demand –> Claim –> Judgment –> Enforcement
  • Claim –> Judgment –> Enforcement
  • Direct to Claim –> Judgment –> Enforcement
  • Letter Before Action –> Winding Up or Bankruptcy Petition
  • Letter Before Action –> Statutory Demand –> Winding Up or Bankruptcy Petition
  • Statutory Demand –> Bankruptcy Petition

 

Same day guarantee
Once registered with us, we guarantee to act on your instructions for Letters before Action, Claims or Writs of Execution the same day if you instruct us by 12 noon on normal working days.

Money-back guarantee – our performance guarantee to you
If, within 30 days from first instructions, you tell us that you are not satisfied with the service given, for any reason, then without quibble we will refund you all of our own charges incurred in that period (this excludes all disbursements such as Court fees and agent’s charges paid to others on your behalf).

Consistent performance – year in, year out.
We operate as an effective extension to the tools that your credit department needs to maximise cash flow. Our focus is concentrated. Our debt recovery team does nothing else, so we understand the needs of credit managers and financial controllers who collect unpaid debt.

You’ll get rapid responses to all communications, a dedicated account executive familiar with your industry and on-line information as part of our Client Care Programme.

Social Protection Minister Joan Burton has said that the European Central Bank (ECB) needs to change the way it approaches the recovery of debt.

Minister Burton today said the current structure is ‘fairly inflexible’, designed largely for the German economy, and has to evolve.

Her comments come amid continuing controversy over comments by Transport Minister Leo Varadkar in which he reportedly suggested that a second IMF/EU bailout programme might be required for Ireland.

Both Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Finance Minister Michael Noonan yesterday flatly denied that a second bailout would be necessary, while a spokesperson for Minister Varadkar claimed he had merely provided “a hypothetical answer to a hypothetical question” posed by The Sunday Times.

Minister Burton today said Ireland can avoid the necessity for a second bailout by continuing to follow the reform programme already underway, and to by getting domestic lending going again.

However she said a change in Europe’s approach to the problem is crucial.

“If the ECB wants to see Ireland growing, (if) it wants to see Greece recovering… it has to have a policy which focuses on growth, investment and innovation as much as it focuses on fighting inflation,” she said.

“I would say the difficulty with the ECB, from an Irish point of view, is that it is focused almost exclusively on dealing with inflation.”

(Irish Examiner, 31st May 2011)