Tracing debtors can be a headache unless done by professionals

Tracing people who owe them money can be a headache for many organisations, including small enterprises. The money may never be recovered simply because the person owing the money becomes evasive and perhaps changes his or her contact details.

"We hired a debt collector once to recover money that was owed by an apparently respectable organisation, whose managing director had hired our services. The debt collector, after failing to collect the money, produced what he said was a court order authorising attachment of the debtor's property," the managing director of one small company said.

"However, he was unable to serve the order as he said he could not locate the person concerned, who had moved and changed his contact details.

"Eventually the debt collector, after being paid a fee that he said was for the Messenger of Court and promising to repay it since he had failed after more than a year to discover the debtor's whereabouts, himself became evasive and eventually himself went missing and was said to have left the country," he said.

Tracing debtors can be difficult for a company or even a debt collector. However, Safeguard Security's investigations division has the experience and track record to deliver a solution.

 Its managing director, Steve Jennings, said most of the requests it receives for its tracing services come from lawyers wanting on behalf of their clients to trace bad debtors or people who have defaulted on loan repayments.

Other requests sometimes come from insurance companies, some of them foreign insurance companies, wanting to investigate possible life insurance claim frauds, such as claiming for a relative who has died when in fact the person is alive.

Occasionally individuals or their lawyers may hire Safeguard's investigations services to trace a relative who has gone missing or who they have not seen for a long time.

"We specialise in all sorts of private investigations, among which is the tracing of individuals who a client wishes to find, whether it be a relative whose whereabouts is unknown, a person whose life is insured or a loan defaulter or debtor who has failed to pay for services or items received.

"We also carry out undercover operations where an organisation has concerns about possible thefts or fraud and even carry out independent stocktaking for companies that prefer to use independent stock-takers rather than their own staff to ensure the accuracy of their stocktaking..

"We carry out truth verification tests as well, using voice stress analysis, as part of an investigation or part of a process of vetting potential employees for an organisation.

"We have both the experience and tools to carry out all sorts of investigations, including tracing those being sought because of non-payment of a debt or loan," Mr Jennings said.