Information Required to Conduct Debt Management Collections
We strive to collect our client’s debts as fast as possible in order to deliver effective service to our client. This is sometimes very challenging in the light of the ever-changing requirements and legislation imposed by Courts. In order to be capable to comply with the ever-changing requirements pertaining to collections, we must be in possession of all the relevant information of a specific matter.
Accordingly, we will address the necessary aspects pertaining to information generally required below.
Invoices and contracts:
The Magistrates’ Court Rules requires that the original invoice or contract must be filed in the court file of every case, alternatively, an affidavit must be filed stating why the original cannot be filed, for example, the contract has been lost or destroyed. We experience difficulty in this regard if we do not receive the original documents from our clients and we cannot depose to an affidavit on our client’s behalf.
If a contract is involved, the same must be duly completed and signed by the parties involved. We receive numerous contracts that are not properly completed or signed.
Furthermore, we wish to bring to our client’s attention that if statements are handed over for “a balance brought forward”, we will require the respective tax invoices for the balance that is brought over. The tax invoices are important since it shows exactly what the money is owed for, whereas the statement does not provide such information.
Accordingly, we urge our clients to provide us with the originals of documents handed to us, especially of contracts as far as possible.
Information:
We receive an increase of enquiries from Courts where the Magistrate wants to know subjective information of debtors, however, we are not always in a position to timeously address these queries since we are not in possession of the information.
Accordingly, we request that the client provide us with all relevant information and documentation upon handover, such as:
- Patient forms;
- Acceptance of liability forms signed by the Defendant, if applicable;
- Suretyship signed by a third party, if applicable;
- Notes relating to contact with the Defendant, if any; etc.
Despite addressing queries received from the Courts, the above information further places us in a position to deal more readily with enquiries received from Debtors, which in turn assist in resolving disputes on accounts.
Suretyship:
Whenever you deal with a Company, Close Corporation or a Trust, you run the risk that the entity may cease to trade and/or liquidate, in which event we will not be able to proceed with legal action against the entity. Therefore, you may elect to have a surety signed by one or more individuals who accept liability for payment of the entity’s debt in the event that they cannot pay the debt.
If you do not have surety forms, kindly contact our office in order to consult with an attorney from Esterhuyze Inc. to assist you in drafting a surety form for your business.
Acceptance of liability:
In the event that a situation arises where service is requested by one person, in respect of another person’s property, we would advise that our clients request such a person and/or the owner of the property to sign an acceptance of liability in order to establish without question who will be responsible for payment of the services rendered.
A simple example of such a scenario is when someone submits another person’s pet to a veterinarian for medical treatment. This scenario creates a risk for unnecessary litigation due to a dispute regarding who the responsible person is and may affect your claim negatively.
In the event that someone other than the patient is held liable for payment of a doctor’s account, we would advise that the person held liable be requested to personally sign that he accepts liability. If the person held liable did not sign as confirmation of his / her acceptance, we would advise that the patient be held liable for payment.
If you do not have acceptance of liability forms, kindly contact our office in order to consult with an attorney from Esterhuyze Inc. to assist you in drafting the same for your business.
In the light of the abovementioned, we kindly request our client’s assistance relating to the above as it will ensure that we are in possession of all necessary information in order to provide you with the best possible service without delay to request same from you.
Should you have any questions, please contact Carla van Wyk.
023 347 8911 / 081 731 6859
prodebt@prodebtonline.co.za