Wherever You Go

We were asked by one of our overseas clients to visit a debtor to interview them about their finances and to get a closer feel for their asset base. The subjects owed a large amount of money to a financier abroad and our client wanted the debt transferred and registered in the UK to allow them to obtain judgment and proceed with enforcement.

When they had originally borrowed the money they provided a schedule of their assets both in New Zealand (where they resided at the time) and in the UK. When the borrowing went into default they fled back to the UK. We tracked them down and met with them. Whilst not particularly pleased to see us they saw the error of their ways and co-operated with us. We were able to establish that they did indeed have a good asset base and were also in full time, well paid, employment. The liabilities they had were comfortably manageable.

Armed with this information, our client began enforcement procedures and ultimately a repayment programme agreed via the sale of property assets.

Focus on......Trace and Discreet Enquiries

When a client has lost contact with a debtor, we are often asked to trace the debtor's whereabouts and then try and investigate what assets they may have without raising their suspicions.

As you will know, trace is one of our areas of expertise and our Franchise Owners are highly skilled in field trace work. We often overcome a number of difficulties in locating people who do not want to be found, but we remain determined and our success rate of c70% confirms our abilities.

When found, we may be asked to investigate the debtor's assets. Obviously, this would normally be their residential property but we also look out for such things as vehicles, other property investments, business interests etc. Where possible we will also seek to gather information from neighbours in an effort to perhaps confirm our thoughts or just provide us with a little snippet of detail. It should be remembered, of course, that there are also occasions when there is no new information or details to find!

Focus On.......Customer Interviews

There is no doubt that times are still hard for many throughout the country and we are seeing a growing trend by our customers in asking us to visit their debtors on their behalf.

We interview many individuals on a daily basis in an effort to get their up to date financial position and help our clients assessment of each file. Wherever possible we meet the debtor at home and complete a detailed interview form consisting of income/expenditure and assets/liabilities. As you may expect, meeting the subject at home allows us to report details that they may have not told our client, such as vehicles and other assets. We paint a picture to help our clients make cost effective decisions.