Case Reference: #2024-PORT-0073

Client profile: European logistics and freight forwarding company. Annual revenue €120 million. Operations across 28 countries. Customer base: manufacturers, retailers, and distributors.

Portfolio: 47 receivables across 14 countries. Total exposure: €2,140,000. Age range: 75-340 days past due. Claim range: €8,000 to €185,000.

Week 1: The triage

Every portfolio engagement begins with triage. We assessed all 47 claims against three criteria: documentation quality, debtor solvency, and jurisdictional enforcement capability.

Category A (immediate engagement): 22 claims, €1,180,000. Well-documented claims against solvent debtors in jurisdictions with efficient enforcement. These claims had high recovery probability and would be engaged immediately through jurisdiction-specific amicable contact.

Category B (enhanced engagement): 15 claims, €640,000. Claims with adequate documentation but complications: partial disputes, debtors in jurisdictions with slower enforcement, or claims requiring additional documentation from the client.

Category C (assessment required): 7 claims, €230,000. Claims requiring further investigation: debtors with unclear financial status, claims with documentation gaps, or jurisdictions where enforcement viability needed confirmation.

Category D (recommended write-off): 3 claims, €90,000. One debtor in insolvency proceedings, one claim past the limitation period, one debtor dissolved with no successor entity.

Weeks 2-4: The amicable phase

All Category A claims were engaged simultaneously. Each debtor was contacted by a jurisdiction-specific specialist in the debtor's language, referencing the enforcement instruments available in that jurisdiction and presenting a 14-day resolution window.

Results by week 4: 14 of 22 Category A claims resolved. Total amicable recovery: €780,000. Average resolution time: 18 days. The debtors who paid in this phase shared a common characteristic: they were solvent and had simply deprioritised the creditor's receivable. Professional engagement moved the receivable back to the top of their payment queue.

Weeks 4-8: The escalation phase

The 8 unresolved Category A claims and all 15 Category B claims entered formal escalation. Payment orders were filed in Germany (4 claims), France (3), UK (3), Italy (2), Netherlands (2), Spain (2), Poland (1), Turkey (1), UAE (1), and Belgium (1). Pre-judgment attachments were obtained in France (2 claims) and Netherlands (1 claim).

Results by week 8: 11 additional claims resolved through the escalation phase. Total escalation recovery: €520,000. The pattern was consistent: debtors who had ignored amicable engagement responded to formal legal instruments. The filing of a payment order communicates that the creditor is committed to enforcement.

Weeks 8-16: The enforcement phase

The remaining 12 unresolved claims from Categories A and B, plus 4 viable claims from Category C, entered enforcement. Court hearings attended in 5 jurisdictions. Judgments obtained on 9 claims. Bank account seizures executed on 6 claims. Settlement negotiations conducted on 3 claims where the debtor engaged counsel.

Results by week 16: 8 additional claims resolved. Total enforcement recovery: €340,000. Four claims remain in active litigation with expected resolution within 90 days.

The results

Total recovered (16 weeks): €1,640,000 out of €2,050,000 in pursued claims (excluding Category D write-offs). Recovery rate: 80.0%.

Phase breakdown: Amicable phase: €780,000 (47.6% of recovery). Escalation phase: €520,000 (31.7%). Enforcement phase: €340,000 (20.7%).

Timeline: 42% of recovery achieved within 30 days. 74% within 60 days. 100% of current recovery within 120 days.

The logistics company had provisioned €1.7 million for write-off on these receivables. The recovery reversed the majority of that provision and produced a material improvement in reported earnings.

The portfolio intelligence note

First-time users of professional recovery consistently report the same observation: the majority of their aged receivables were recoverable. The debtors could pay. They had simply been given no reason to prioritise the creditor's claim over other obligations. Professional engagement provides that reason — systematically, across every jurisdiction, simultaneously.

If you've never used a collection agency and you're holding aged receivables, the process described above is exactly what happens. Brief our team with your portfolio for a no-obligation triage and recovery projection.