Pay sixty quid or else. Okay, so it was phrased a little more formally, but this was the gist of the letter I received.
Looking it over, I found a number, so I rang it. When the bloke at the other end answered, I asked him what the sixty quid was for. He replied that I owed it to the electricity company. I said no, I don’t mate; the account was settled with the energy provider. The bloke followed up with well if you don’t pay, we’ll take you to court. My response was, go for it, mate, especially as your letter isn’t pre-action protocol compliant. The bloke’s spluttered answer was what?
I explained the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims (“the Protocol”) sets out the process that you have to follow if you’re pursuing an individual, which can include sole traders, for an unpaid bill. In my situation, the electricity company wanted £40 and the debt recovery firm wanted £20 for its costs. The debt recovery firm had never heard of the Protocol relating to its supposed area of expertise.
So, I set out what the Protocol required. Namely, before you think of issuing a claim, write to the person, with an actual letter instead of an email, that sets out that you’re using the Protocol, why they are in debt to you, and by how much. You must include the date from when the debt began to accrue and whether interest is compounding the person’s problems. Next, give them an information sheet so they can tell you all about their finances, along with a list of organisations that can help with debt problems. Finally, allow the person 30 days to respond, advising they are either paying the debt (all at once or in instalments), they intend to dispute the debt, or they need more time to respond. If they don’t respond, you can issue a claim. If they do respond and say they are going to be disputing the debt, you have to give them 14 days written notice of your intention to issue proceedings.
So, in my conversation with the bloke, I set this all out and added in for good measure, that if I did find myself in front of a court, I would sing like a canary when it came to the fact that I hadn’t been sent a pre-action protocol compliant letter. To underline the point, I followed up the call by writing to both the electricity company and the debt recovery firm. The next thing I knew, there was no more claim.
Of course, businesses will be dealing with it from the other side, and in my experience, most potential defendants don’t respond and claims are duly issued. Still, you need to follow the process outlined above or face being possibly challenged in court. Clause 7.1 of the Protocol allows the court to apply sanctions that parties which have failed to do as required. Or to phrase it more simply, give Lawgistics a call if you want to recover a debt without getting the judge’s wig in a tither.
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