Why You Need To Get Process Serving Right

When it comes to collecting debt from your customers, there is more than one way to skin a cat. In fact, as we’ve talked about many times in the past, there are dozens of different ways to approach debt collection, and which route you choose will depend on your industry, business size, the size of the debt and how cooperative the client is. But sometimes those methods don’t work, and you have to resort to the courts. This means you will need to serve your client notice of your intention to take them to court, and for that you need a process server.

What is Process Serving?

In the UK, process serving is when legal documents that give notice of specific court actions are delivered to defendants or respondents. So if you’ve exhausted your usual debt collection processes and have decided to take the client to court, you would need to go through process serving to give them notice and documentation.

Process serving formally brings court orders (like debt claims, judgements, enforcement and eviction notices) to the attention of the respondent, and gives them time to respond to it. You will need an official, legal process server to deliver these documents – you can’t just turn up on your clients doorstep and hand them an envelope! An official, legal process server will serve any legal document that requires a personal service (and proof of service) in order to be binding.

What Documents Can You Serve?

As a general rule, process servers can be used to serve any kind of legal documentation or summons. At Debtcol, since we specialise in debt collection and finance, there are some types of document we can help you serve in the name of claiming the debts owed to you. These include:

• County Court claim forms
• Court orders
• Statutory demands
• Bankruptcy
• Winding up petitions
• General legal documents

These documents are usually sent as a last resort, which is one of the reasons you want to make sure they are served correctly – so that they can be effective as a debt collection option.

Why Is It Important?

Because simply put, if your legal documents aren’t served properly and in a timely manner, then they are not legally binding, and your client can just ignore them. This makes them ineffective, and takes up more of your time, money and energy to reapply and resubmit your documents for court approval.

In terms of why you should use a process server – that one is pretty straight forward. People generally respond better to process servers serving documents on them than the claimants. And in some cases, the claimant serving can actually invalidate the notice. Process servers are distanced from the case and the people involved – there is nothing personal and nothing for them to gain. They are also trained and experienced in dealing with difficult or reluctant people, so they are the perfect people to get notices into the hands of challenging customers.

At Debtcol, we are trained and qualified to act as process servers for all forms of debt collection notice, including all of the types listed above. With our help, you can ensure your legal documents are served on time and in accordance with the appropriate legislation. Our experienced process servers will serve documents correctly and promptly anywhere in the UK, so if this is something you have been struggling with, we would love to help. For more information, just get in touch with the team today.