How Do People Go About Debt Management Recovery?

As you might imagine, there are many ways, legal and err, less than legal for debt management recovery. I have written about my own experiences of chasing a debt throught the UK County Court Judgement system in another section.

Here are some of the things that I learned about debt management recovery.

Firstly, it isn't quick. If someone owes you money, it can take years for them to repay you. If it is a lot of money, that could potentially become a decade or more.

For both parties, debt recovery can be compared to a long and carefully drawn out game of chess.

I recall a quote, I think from Donald Trump, but I am not 100% certain about it. 'If you owe someone $1,000 that is your problem, but if you owe them $100 million then it is their problem' and it is quite true. The more debt you are owed, the bigger a problem and risk you have.

Today's money is worth more than tomorrow's. Inflation will take care of that. In investment, it is known as the 'time value of money'.

The longer it takes to recover a debt, the more likely it is that a company will accept a lower total repayment in settlement. Suddenly, a reduced value and even only modest inflation levels can mean that the amount repaid is really only a fraction of the amount owed.

A debtor is likely to try many tricks to avoid debt management recovery. There will be the 'token' payment of a very minimal amount each month. This will be followed by missed payments. There will be the shoddy budgeting that 'proves' to a court they have no money. Banking will be done in someone elses name, to prevent a garnishee order from freezing assets. Part-time work will be paid in cash so that 'reportable' income is low, justifying no payments to a lender. Then there might be a house move to confuse and delay the lender. The tricks go on and on.

For my part, when I chased my former partner for a return of the money he stole, I played the game hard and fair. I only went after money I knew I could prove in court was taken, which meant there was plenty I didn't chase or recover.

I chased in a very aggressive way, through the courts. I applied interest penalties (allowed by the courts), but did all the legal work and research myself, saving me costs which would have eventually been passed on to him.

With hindsight, I quite enjoyed it. It was interesting to see the English legal system from the inside and I enjoyed the slow but effective revenge on the man who sunk our fledgling business.

In total, it took me two and a half years to recover my debt. However, until the end, when I was unexpectedly repaid, I really thought that it would take me a decade to recover the money.