No Comments

SHOULD I INSTRUCT A LAWYER FOR DEBT COLLECTION?

At Matthews Folbigg Lawyers, we have a team of lawyers and clerks ready, wiling and able to cater for your debt collection requirements.  Aside from being lawyers, members of our team have been involved in debt recovery for over 30 years, helping companies and individuals recover monies due and owing to them working with finance companies and mercantile agents seeing first hand the nuts and bolts of dealing with debtors.

This experience has given us a boost in assisting our clients to recover monies in-house up to the management of a full blown hearing where the debtor defends everything from non-supply of goods to alleging that the goods supplied were defective.  It also allows us to give you advice on the implications of debt collection, so you can make practical, commercial decisions. [...]  READ MORE →

Matthews Folbigg Facebook
No Comments

When is it too late to collect a debt?

By Ellen Ferris, a Solicitor in Matthews Folbigg’s Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group.

When life gets busy, sometimes we put off important jobs to deal with more pressing matters. But when it comes to debt collection, this can only be put off for so long before debts become ‘statute barred‘. At this point the debts the subject of debt collection are no longer capable of being collected.

Most States and all Territories have time limits within which debt collection must be completed. In New South Wales, if too much time passes and the limitation period expires, section 63 of the Limitation Act 1969 (NSW) extinguishes the debt, meaning recovery of the debt is no longer possible.. [...]  READ MORE →

No Comments

Debt Collection – What we are hearing from our clients

Debt Collection – What we are hearing from our clients

Regardless of which industry they operate in, clients are expressing to us a sense of dislocation from their usual business networks. Social isolation has meant that feedback from customers, practical guidance from industry associations and even gossip from colleagues has been harder to come by. Under these pressures it is easy to feel as though your business challenges are unique to you.

If COVID-19 has led you to put debt collection down your business priority list you are not alone. Most of the business owners we have spoken to are: [...]  READ MORE →

No Comments

Debt Recovery – Why should I use a Lawyer?

By Darrin Mitchell, a Senior Associate in Matthews Folbigg’s Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group.

Meet Darrin

Aside from being a lawyer, Darrin has been involved in debt recovery for 30 years, helping companies and individuals recover monies due and owing to them.

Before Darrin was admitted as a lawyer, he worked for a finance company and a mercantile agent so he saw first hand the nuts and bolts of dealing with debtors.

This experience has given Darrin a boost in assisting clients to recover monies in-house up to the management of a full blown hearing where the debtor defends everything from non-supply of goods to alleging that the goods supplied were defective.  It also allows Darrin to give advice on the implications of debt recovery, so clients can make practical, commercial decisions. [...]  READ MORE →

No Comments

Creditor’s Requests – When is it unreasonable?

By Bonnie McMahon, an Associate in Matthews Folbigg’s Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group.

Many external administrators and trustees will have been receiving requests from creditors under section 70-45 of the new insolvency practice schedules, which were first introduced into the Corporations Act and Bankruptcy Act in September 2017.

This new provision allows creditors to request information, reports or documents from an external administrator or trustee.

At this stage, there is not a lot of guidance as to when external administrators and trustees can refuse to comply with these requests, especially as the scope of section 70-45 has only been considered by the Court in one reported case to date. [...]  READ MORE →

No Comments

Creditor’s statutory demand issued pending negotiations is upheld

By Andrew Behman, an Associate of Matthews Folbigg, in our Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group

In a recent matter which we acted for the Defendant (In the matter of Precise Training Pty Ltd [2018] NSWSC 1383), we successfully defended an application to set aside a creditor’s statutory demand issued by the Chief Commissioner of State Revenue (“the Commissioner“) against Precise Training Pty Ltd, the Plaintiff.

Facts

The Commissioner issued a number of assessments for payroll tax to Precise Training in 2015 as a member of a larger tax group. Precise Training disputed the assessments and lodged an objection on 10 December 2015. The Commissioner disallowed the objection and proceeded to enter into negotiations for payment of the assessments. [...]  READ MORE →

No Comments

Not opening your emails? That is not an excuse to avoid valid service!

By Chloe Howard of Matthews Folbigg Lawyers, a lawyer in our Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group

A recent Supreme Court matter has determined that service of an application to set aside a statutory demand was validly served in time, even though the solicitor in question did not open the email serving the application until the expiration date for service had passed.

In March 2019, the plaintiff’s solicitor and the defendant’s solicitor commenced communicating in an attempt to facilitate a resolution of the dispute between their respective clients. The communications predominantly took place by email. [...]  READ MORE →

No Comments

Preventing a Service Fail – A Tale of Email v. Snail Mail?

In one of our recent matters, a client instructed us to bring winding up proceedings against four companies with the same sole director. The total debt across the four companies was over $300,000.00. Whilst there were four applications before the Court, one common issue was whether the companies had been properly served with the statutory demands relating to the debt owed.

On 11 April 2019, statutory demands were sent to all four companies, with the demands posted to the registered offices of the defendants according to the records of ASIC. Unbeknownst to the creditor, the director had vacated the registered premises of two of the companies over a year earlier, but had failed to update ASIC’s records in respect of this change, and had not put in place a mail-forwarding system. The demands addressed to the other two companies were sent to the office of the director’s solicitor. [...]  READ MORE →

No Comments

How to Enforce a Judgment in Debt Recovery – Garnishee Orders

By Chloe Howard,  a Solicitor of Matthews Folbigg, in our Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group

Whilst there are many options for enforcing a judgment debt, in the right matter a Garnishee Order can be an extremely effective debt recovery tool. They are inexpensive to issue and all you need is the debtor’s name to get the process started. So, what is a Garnishee Order and how can a Garnishee Order help in recovering a debt owed to you?

What is a Garnishee Order?

A Garnishee Order is an order of the Court which allows a judgment creditor to recover or ‘garnish’ a debt from a judgment debtor by essentially ‘seizing’ monies from the judgment debtor without their permission by going directly to a third party for payment. [...]  READ MORE →

No Comments

Three reasons why your debt collection efforts should not end when your debtor goes bankrupt

By Jeff Brown a Principal of Matthews Folbigg, in our Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group.

Most of us assume that the bankruptcy of a debtor that we are chasing for payment is the death knell for any return. It is true that in most cases the end result of bankruptcy is a minimal or zero return for unsecured creditors. However, there is a lot to say for putting in a relatively small effort to ensure that you are in the mix in case funds become available for distribution.

For example: [...]  READ MORE →

No Comments

Is Payment of the Debt Guaranteed? The Answer Is Not Always Straightforward…

By Jeffrey Brown, a Principal of Matthews Folbigg, in our Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group.

The concept is simple enough: your terms of trade contain a section to be completed and signed by a person who agrees to personally guarantee all debts of your customer. If the customer can’t or won’t pay, you can turn to the guarantor for payment.

The guarantee is a tried and trusted part of the debt collection strategy for many businesses.

Far too often, we see instances where claims for payment made against guarantors run into serious trouble. [...]  READ MORE →

No Comments

Proposed Changes to Credit Reporting Before Senate: Will it impact debt recovery?

By Bonnie McMahon an Associate of Matthews Folbigg, in our Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group

The Commonwealth government has introduced the National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Mandatory Comprehensive Credit Reporting) Bill 2018 (“the Bill“), which is currently before the Senate.

If passed, the Bill will require the four major banks (Westpac, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group) to supply their comprehensive credit information to credit reporting agencies, which will include information regarding customers that have been involved in a debt recovery process. The banks will also be required to keep the information they supply, accurate, complete and up to date, on all existing and new accounts. [...]  READ MORE →