You can find the standard UK debt collection process on any solicitor's website. Letter Before Action. County Court claim. Judgment. Enforcement. It reads like a recipe: follow the steps, get the result.

Except it doesn't work like that. The steps are correct. What's missing is everything that determines whether those steps actually produce money — or just produce legal costs.

Here are five things that most solicitors won't volunteer, not because they're hiding them, but because they live in a world of procedure. We live in a world of outcomes.

1. The Letter Before Action is a negotiation tool, not a formality

Most LBAs are templated. They state the amount, cite the contract, threaten proceedings, and give 14 days to respond. The debtor's in-house counsel has seen hundreds of them. They all look the same. They all carry the same implicit message: "we're not quite serious enough to sue yet."

An effective LBA is different. It contains specific intelligence about the debtor's financial position — their filed accounts, their known creditors, their recent CCJs if any. It signals that you've done your homework and that enforcement planning has already begun. The tone is not threatening. It's factual, detailed, and unnervingly well-informed.

We had a case last year where the LBA referenced the debtor's recent application to extend their overdraft facility with a specific bank. The debtor's director called our office within 48 hours. Not their solicitor. The director, personally. Payment in full followed three weeks later. The entire recovery cost was the price of the letter.

2. A County Court Judgment you can't enforce is an expensive trophy

Winning a CCJ feels like progress. It isn't — unless the debtor has attachable assets and you know where they are. Roughly a third of CCJs in England and Wales go unsatisfied. The creditor has a judgment, which is legally interesting and financially worthless.

Before filing a claim, the critical question is enforcement viability. Does the debtor own property? Do they have bank accounts with traceable balances? Are they a director of other companies with assets? This intelligence work should happen before the claim, not after the judgment. The order matters.

3. The Statutory Demand is the most underused weapon in UK debt collection

For debts over £750 (companies) or £5,000 (individuals), a Statutory Demand under the Insolvency Act 1986 is often more effective than a County Court claim. If the debtor fails to pay or set aside the demand within 21 days, you can petition to wind up the company.

This concentrates minds with remarkable efficiency. A CCJ is embarrassing. A winding-up petition is existential. The debtor's bank will likely freeze their facilities the moment a petition is advertised. Directors risk personal liability. Other creditors accelerate their own claims.

Most solicitors default to the County Court route because it's familiar. The Statutory Demand route is faster, cheaper, and — for solvent debtors who are simply choosing not to pay — significantly more persuasive.

4. Cross-border enforcement into the UK is easier than most foreign creditors think

If you're a European creditor with a judgment from an EU member state, post-Brexit enforcement depends on the Hague Convention 2019 and various bilateral agreements. It's not as seamless as the old Brussels Regulation regime, but it's far from impossible.

More importantly, if you hold a valid contractual claim, you can issue proceedings directly in England and Wales if the contract contains an English law jurisdiction clause — which many international commercial contracts do. Foreign creditors routinely assume they need to litigate in their home jurisdiction first. Often, they don't.

Our European clients recovering debts in the UK bypass their home courts entirely and file in London. The average timeline from filing to enforcement: 4–7 months, depending on whether the debtor contests.

5. The debtor's psychology matters more than the debtor's legal position

UK commercial debtors rarely can't pay. They're choosing not to pay — or choosing to pay someone else first. Your position in the debtor's payment hierarchy depends on one thing: perceived consequence.

An email reminder carries zero consequence. A solicitor's letter carries mild consequence. A Statutory Demand or winding-up petition carries existential consequence. A call from a professional recovery team that clearly understands the debtor's corporate structure, assets, and vulnerabilities carries the specific consequence of being unable to hide.

That's where we operate. Not in the space of reminders and templates, but in the space where the debtor's calculation shifts from "I can delay this" to "I need to resolve this."

If you're owed money in the UK — whether you're a domestic creditor or recovering from abroad — brief us on the situation. We'll tell you exactly which instrument will produce a result, and how fast.