Commercial Debt Solutions (CDS) DEBT COLLECTION SERVICE Commercial Debt Solutions ( CDS ) is a division of Eaton Smith LLP, a large Yorkshire law firm based in Huddersfield. CDS caters for businesses nationally who wish to speed up their collection systems and recover the full amount on their invoices. It is important to note that it is not a scheme that will operate where: a defence is filed by the Debtor or if there is a dispute about the work carried out or the product or services supplied; there is not immediate payment by the Debtor in response to the claim form being issued in accordance with the procedure set out below; the Debtor is unable to pay; or the Debtor cannot be traced. The Service will speed up your debt collection and allow you to retain your full invoice value. Set out below is how the Service works but if you have any questions do not hesitate to contact us at CDS on 01484 821315 or 01484 821345. You will be required to confirm acceptance of our terms and conditions of business before we commence provision of the Service and to comply with those terms and conditions of business. THE SERVICE 1. Once you have accepted our terms and conditions of business and registered with us and we have confirmed your registration with us, you ( the Client ) will have the ability to download a standard final letter before action ( LBA ) for you to complete the relevant details and send the same to the person or business indebted to you ( the Debtor ). The LBA advises the Debtor of the involvement of CDS to have maximum impact. The LBA will require the Debtor to make payment to the Client within 7 days of the date of the LBA ( The Payment
Date ) and/or to raise any complaints or disputes about the sums owing and to send these to the Client, the intention being that any complaints or disputes can be dealt with by the Client before CDS issues a claim with the court for recovery of the amount owed by the Debtor ( the Claim ). 2. If the Debtor makes payment of the debt in response to the LBA, the Client must advise CDS of this so that the matter may be closed by CDS and there will be no charge made to the Client. 3. If the Debtor does not pay the debt in response to the LBA or otherwise contact the Client to raise any queries, complaints or disputes on or before the Payment Date the Client may proceed further with the Claim. The Client is then required to complete its Debtor s details and the amount of the Claim on the CDS website at www.commercialdebtsolutions.co.uk and to send a copy of the LBA and copies of all relevant paper work including, but not limited to, outstanding invoices, order confirmations and delivery notes, to CDS. This can be carried out electronically by sending scanned pdf versions to the following e-mail address: cds@eatonsmith.co.uk if desired or by posting the information to CDS at 14 High Street, Huddersfield, HD1 2HA. Please note that the service can be much quicker if you are able to provide all details to CDS electronically. 4. It is vitally important that, when submitting the details of the Debtor to CDS in accordance with paragraph 3, the Debtor is properly identified i.e. whether it is a limited company, a partnership, or a trading name of an individual. If the Client has any doubts about who the Debtor is, then they can ask CDS to help. 5. When the information required under paragraph 3 is received by CDS a conflict of interest search will be carried out by CDS to ensure that CDS is not precluded from acting for the Client against the Debtor because, for example, we act for or have acted for the Debtor. In the rare event that a conflict of interest exists, CDS will advise the Client that it cannot act further and any
monies paid by the Client to CDS will be returned and if requested CDS will provide a list of some other businesses who carry out this type of work. 6. Once the documents (as required in paragraph 3 above) have been provided to CDS then the court proceedings will be issued by CDS generally within 24 hours of the Client having submitted the Debtor s details on the CDS website and having made payment of the of the court fee as defined in paragraph 21 ( Court Fee ) in accordance with paragraph 8 below.. 7. CDS will not check the details provided to the CDS website by the Client before issuing the Claim form. It is the responsibility of the Client to notify CDS of any payment made or query, complaint or dispute raised by the Debtor. The identity of the Debtor is entirely the responsibility of the Client. If there are mistakes made in properly identifying the Debtor and/or in providing CDS with details of payments made or queries, complaints or disputes raised by the Debtor, then the Court Fee and the solicitor s costs will sometimes not be recoverable from the Debtor and will have to be paid by the Client. 8. The Court Fee is paid by the Client to CDS prior to issue either by on-line payment or telephone payment. CDS will pay the Reduced Court Fee (as defined in paragraph 21) to the Court at the time of issuing the claim in accordance with paragraph 6 above. The Court serves the proceedings on the Debtor. 9. If no acknowledgement of the proceedings is filed by the Debtor within 16 days commencing with the date of issue by the Court then CDS will issue an application to the Court for summary judgment. 10. If an acknowledgement of service (i.e. a receipt of the claim form) is filed by the Debtor at Court within the 16 days following its issue but no defence is
delivered to the Court within the next 14 days (i.e. 30 days from the issue of proceedings) then summary judgment is entered against the Debtor by CDS. 11. The summary judgment order issued by the Court orders that the Debtor pays the invoice, the Court costs and any interest either forthwith or in a short period. 12. If the Debtor pays the debt after the issue of proceedings but before service of the proceedings he is still liable to pay the court fee, costs and interest. 13. Following the obtaining of summary judgment, the Court Bailiffs or Enforcement Officers (formerly Sheriffs Officers) are instructed to seize goods to the value of the Claim from the Debtor s premises. 14. Within 2 business days of receiving cleared funds in full settlement of the judgment from either the Debtor or the Court (which judgment includes the costs) CDS will pay the Client the full invoice value recovered from the Debtor and return the Reduced Court Fee (as defined in paragraph 21) paid in advance by the Client. 15. If the Debtor pays the debt and costs and interest to the Client then the Client retains the full invoice value and the Reduced Court Fee (as defined in paragraph 21) and agrees to pay all other sums received from the Debtor (i.e. interest, costs and admin fee) to CDS within 7 days of their receipt. 16. If the Debtor defends the proceedings or fails to make immediate payment following the judgment being issued the case is removed from the CDS preferential system i.e. the no cost system and the Client then has a number of options as set out below.
17. The case can be dealt with by Eaton Smith LLP who will charge the matter in their normal way, or the Client can opt to instruct other solicitors or deal with the case themselves. 18. If Eaton Smith LLP is instructed then the Client will be provided with full details of the likely costs should the matter proceed to trial and such services will be provided under the usual terms and conditions of Eaton Smith LLP which will be provided to the Client separately. 19. If the Claim is defended and is for an amount below 5,000 then it is defined by Statute as being a Small Claim and is dealt with under the Small Claims Procedure. No solicitor s costs can be recovered in the Small Claims Court. In these circumstances we advise that the Client deals with the case themselves and Eaton Smith LLP will provide the Client with the court booklet about the making of Small Claims which will assist the Client in the running of the case. 20. If after the issue of proceedings the Debtor cannot be located or the proceedings cannot be served or the Debtor is insolvent or for any other reason the case does not proceed to summary judgment and no monies are recovered then the Client will only have to pay the Court Fee and the solicitor s costs as set out on the summons as claimed at date of issue. The Client will not be responsible for any of the interest set out on the claim form. 21. The current Court Fees list is set out on our website on the Costs page. The listed Court Fees are the fees which the Court would charge you if you were to issue the Claim yourself. We charge an administrative fee per Claim to cover our costs for managing the Claim, however as we issue through the Bulk Issue Centre and obtain a reduction on the Court Fee ( the Reduced Court Fee ) as a result we are able to incorporate this administrative fee into the Court Fee you pay to us so that you will only pay us the amount that you would have paid had
you issued the Claim yourself. The Court Fee you pay us therefore includes our administrative fee. The only other charge to you under the CDS service would be a credit card administrative cost which is charged to us by our provider for processing a credit card payment, if that is the method you choose to pay for the Court Fees. Court fees are altered by the Court each year and each amendment to the Court Fee will be published on the CDS website. The Reduced Court Fee is recoverable from the defendant Debtor as set out above. 22. It is important to note that as a result of client requests the service runs with the minimum of client contact. CDS will proceed with each stage of the claims procedure without any communication with the Client so it is vital that the Client keep us informed of all payments, queries and all communications with or information about the Debtor. 23. The Client can log onto the site at www.commercialdebtsolutions.co.uk any time to see the progress of their claim. 24. If clients wish for more contact and to be involved in the decision making then the scheme can be varied following a request from the Client in writing and CDS confirming the same with the Client in writing. 25. If the Client decides that they wish to discontinue the proceedings at any stage before its completion and before recovering the full debt interest and costs then they can obviously do so, but would then be liable to pay CDS the monies (ie solicitor s costs and interest) that CDS would have recovered had the matter proceeded as set out above.
26. The service provides a window into the system operating at CDS and clients will be able to see the progress of the recovering of their debts using a unique password. 27. The costs to the Client of the recovery can be nil with the Client agreeing that CDS retain any costs and interest that CDS recovers on the Client s debt as payment for the service given. Provided the scheme criteria are met, the Client should receive their full invoice value plus the Court Fee that they have paid before issue. CDS retains all other monies recovered.