How to send a claim to debt collection
When the claim is ripe, what has to go with it — and what it costs you to wait too long.
You know exactly when a case has to move on, what to send with it, and what the debtor will end up paying themselves.
Step by step
- 01
Check that the notice of collection has been sent — and that the deadline has expired
A claim may not be handed over for collection until the debtor has received a notice of collection with a deadline of at least ten days, and that deadline has expired. If the notice has not been sent, the collection costs cannot be imposed on the debtor. Then you pay them yourself.
This is where it goes wrongIt is the most common mistake in the entire process — and the one that makes collection expensive for the creditor instead of for the debtor.
- 02
Gather the documentation before you send
The invoice, the basis of the agreement (order, contract or confirmation), proof of delivery, and the correspondence with the debtor. The better documented the claim, the shorter the road — including if the case ends up in court.
- 03
Decide whether to pursue the claim per invoice or per customer
If the same customer has six overdue invoices, they should be handled as one account, not as six cases. It is cheaper, it is faster, and it turns an ongoing trading customer into someone you can negotiate with.
- 04
Send the claim while there is still something to recover
A debtor in difficulty has several creditors, and the one who gets there first is the one who gets the money. The longer you wait, the lower the recovery rate — and the closer the claim is to becoming time-barred.
- 05
Do not carry on negotiating behind the collection process
Once the case has been sent, let it run. Agreements made directly with the debtor, behind the back of the case handler, break the process, confuse the documentation and can cost you the cost recovery you have only just built up.
This is where it most often goes wrong
Not because anyone is careless, but because the mistakes are easy to make and only surface once it is too late.
You send too late because it feels harsh
Sending a case to debt collection is not a break with the customer. Over 80 % of cases end in full or partial payment, and most never see the inside of a courtroom. What ruins the relationship is six months of silence followed by a demand.
You send a claim the debtor has already disputed
If the claim is disputed, it is not a collection case — it is a dispute. It has to be settled before it can be enforced, and a reminder on top of an objection weakens your case.
You forget that the claim can become time-barred
As a general rule, an invoice claim becomes time-barred after three years. If the case sits in a spreadsheet waiting for a better moment, the moment can disappear before it comes.