Guest Posted July 21, 2009 Posted July 21, 2009 Can anyone recommend anyone to collect bad debtors? Quote
Guest Posted July 21, 2009 Posted July 21, 2009 Unfortunately the small court just 'legalises' the debt, I don't think they retrieve it. Peggy Quote
Cait Posted July 21, 2009 Posted July 21, 2009 ah, I thought there was some mechanism by which they could extract debt Quote
Guest Posted July 21, 2009 Posted July 21, 2009 Have you tried 'threatening' the bad debtors that you will take legal action to retrieve outstanding monies. We did this once and it worked. We could never have afforded to take them to court. Debbie Quote
sunnyday Posted July 21, 2009 Posted July 21, 2009 Can anyone recommend anyone to collect bad debtors? Crikey - is it a 'huge' amount? Could you offer a 'payment plan' - are the children still with you or have they moved on? I have two large sons - will lend them to you if you want to 'send the boys round'! - Sorry not funny I know........ Will think some more about this..... Quote
Guest Posted July 21, 2009 Posted July 21, 2009 do the psla not have a dept that can assist you there is also some firm specialises in this but I cant remember who they are and I threw the leaflet away. killowengirl Quote
Guest Posted July 22, 2009 Posted July 22, 2009 I would personally use the Small Claims Court which you can access online Firstly, I would do your homework. It helps if they definately have a job and you know where they work. Do they own their own house. Going through the small claims court involves several steps. You do have to pay an amount up front for the various steps, but I have found this the far most effective method of getting your money. The reason I asked if you know if they have a job and more importantly the name of the company and address is that you can ultimately have them pay via their company payroll. Again it means you have to fill in more forms and the courts usually only give you an 'affordable' amount each month. For example on £1,500 I got £50.00 a month, but surprisingly I have just received the last instalment. I would also claim against both parents (if you know them). That way you can take them both to court and claim double the money. It does take about 3 months for this whole process. Don't bother with Debt Collectors or whatever they pretent to call themselves. All they do is charge you an upfront or monthly fee and then just do what you can do yourself - phone them up and write to them. They have no real powers (despite what they say and claim). Ultimately you have to spend more money to put your clients through litigation and at the end of it there is still no guarantee that you will get any money back. They will claim that ultimately you will. However, experience with two of these companies has shown me otherwise. I would be interested if anybody has had positive experiences with debt collectors. And lastly, if they don't pay up. Report them to the Tax Credits. They probably wont' take much notice, but it might make you feel better. At the end of the day these parents are claiming fraudulently as they are not passing on the money. Quote
Guest pamgreen Posted July 22, 2009 Posted July 22, 2009 Have any of you got a debt recovery policy in place. In Warwickshire we are now supposed to have this policy in place. I would be interested to see one please. According to our advisory teacher if you dont have a debt recovery policy it is very difficult to get any money back that is owed to you Quote
sunnyday Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 Have any of you got a debt recovery policy in place. In Warwickshire we are now supposed to have this policy in place. I would be interested to see one please. According to our advisory teacher if you dont have a debt recovery policy it is very difficult to get any money back that is owed to you That's interesting...have never heard that before...... Sunnyday Quote
Lyanne Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 We used the Small Claims court to try to retrive a bad debt: parent (single & with no contact with other parent) turned up, agreed she owed the money, said she worked part time & it was agreed how much she'd had taken from her wages to come to us. She quit her job. Apparently, once she got another job, we could ask the court to have the money directly taken from new company wages - but would have to pay again to go to court. We will not use Small Claims again. We have had a couple of other parents make good on their promises to pay back at £10 per month... But in general it's been a matter of being very firm & sticking to 'You pay or you take your child OUT'. Sorry, not much help! Quote
lynned55 Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 .And lastly, if they don't pay up. Report them to the Tax Credits. They probably wont' take much notice, but it might make you feel better. At the end of the day these parents are claiming fraudulently as they are not passing on the money. You dont know this, not everyone claims or qualifies for Tax Credits Quote
Guest pamgreen Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 According to our advisory teacher. you have to tell people of your policy on debt recovery if you have done this then the legal people will help to recover the debt. It sounds easy but I know it isn't. But I would be really grateful if some one has a policy for me to look at. In September our advisory teacher and childcare support officer are visiting all of the settings in warwickshire to go through a health check of the setting. No they are not looking to see if we are ill!! But they are checking that we have all policies and procedures in place, They also check to see we are up to date with our SEF and if we have the above policy in place. it is a whole load of things they go through Quote
Alison Posted July 25, 2009 Posted July 25, 2009 if all else fails - name and shame them!!! see past topic "this cannot be legal" in lounge/golden time (sorry I dont know how to do a link to the topic) Quote
Alison Posted July 25, 2009 Posted July 25, 2009 (edited) this cannot be legal? hope Ive done that topic link right (thanks Cait for the instructions ) Edited July 25, 2009 by Alison Quote
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