Foreign Debt

Collection of foreign debts still creates difficulties for businesses despite the existence of a common 'internal market' across the EU.

These difficulties arise not just because of language barriers but also because legal systems differ greatly. For example, the time limits for starting proceedings can vary from three months to thirty years depending upon the country and the nature of the claim.

Choices need to be made as to whether to issue proceedings in the UK and enforce abroad, or take proceedings and enforce in the debtor's state. However, strategies need to be adopted to avoid, whenever possible, the need to issue proceedings at all. The Debt Recovery team at Furley Page handles a growing number of foreign debt work. Pre-action correspondence in the debtor's own language massively increases effectiveness. The team has also put together a network of specialist agencies across Europe with whom they work to either directly recover from the debtor, or assist with proceedings.

In most cases a suitable recovery programme can be found, including visits to the debtor.

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