Professional Status Enquiries and Pre-Sue Reports

Know Where You Stand Before You Spend

When you are owed money, you naturally want to take it to court and recover it. But if you don’t know if they can actually repay you, you risk putting more cost and time into it only to receive a judgment you cannot enforce.

This service exists to stop that happening. We gather verified information on the debtor and relay it to you in a court-ready report that equips you with the knowledge you need to take your next step with confidence.

A pre-sue report is best when the subject is an individual and you are seeking income signs to indicate whether they can afford to give you what you are owed. If the subject is a business, sole trader, or linked to a company, and you are looking for their trading position and recoverability, a status enquiry may be more appropriate. The terms are often used interchangeably.

Where We Come In

People don’t regret taking action when there is a real route to recovery. What they regret is spending time and money to reach a dead end when the warning signs were there from the start. Our reports have been used by clients to:

• Decide whether or not to issue a claim
• Avoid spending more money on cases that are unlikely to recover
• Support a decision to negotiate, settle, or take a different approach
• Prioritise cases where time and fees are most likely to be worth it

What a Report Covers

Status and pre-sue reports are about the quality of the information, not the quantity. To cross-check information and make sure it is reliable, we check things like:

• Address position: Whether the subject is still at the address you have, a different one, or somewhere outside of the UK.
• Property links: Signs of ownership or tenancy, including a valuation estimate of the property.
• Employment or income indicators: Whether there are signs of employment, earnings, or business activity.
• Known liabilities: Checking for existing insolvency markers and county court judgements.
• Other useful findings: Anything else that may affect your decision or indicate that enforcement may be difficult.

Our goal is to give you a realistic outlook, so if we can’t verify information, we will be honest in saying so.

Discreet, Proportionate, Document

Status work is only useful if the information is verified and obtained lawfully. If not, you can end up being exposed to dispute, or chasing dead ends. We carry out enquiries within the legal frameworks that govern personal data and privacy in the UK:

• UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018: There are ethical limits as to how personal data can be processed and shared. For reports like these, the lawful basis is usually legitimate interests, meaning there has to be a clear reason for the search and it must be carried out in a proportionate way. We only use permitted sources and keep records of the checks completed.

• Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR): We cannot use intrusive tactics, deception, or spam to force information out. Our role is simply to lawfully obtain information, not apply pressure. As such, our enquiries are kept proportionate to the situation, which also abides by the Administration of Justice Act 1970 and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

At the end of the instruction, we’ll give you a full written report of what we found, how, and how it complies with these laws. You can use this to support your decision-making and share it with solicitors or as part of a court process. We will also include a summary of what the findings suggest, and dates and details to support it.

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