From the demand letter to the enforcement of the judgment: the steps, the deadlines, and the points that decide whether the money actually arrives.
Recovering a debt is a sequence, and most of what goes wrong comes from taking the steps in the wrong order or from starting a process that was never going to end in payment.
Assessment before expenditure
Before anything is sent, we look at the contract or the invoices, the correspondence, the payment history, and the legal form of the debtor. If the claim is not worth pursuing, we say so at the start rather than after a year of costs.
The question that decides everything is not whether you are owed the money. It is whether the debtor can pay it, and what will be left to enforce against by the time a judgment exists.
The demand letter
A properly drafted letter of demand, on a law firm's letterhead, resolves a significant proportion of cases without a court. It sets out what is owed, on the basis of which document, and within what deadline.
Under the Civil Procedure Rules 2023 this pre-action contact is not merely good practice. In certain categories of case it is provided for by the pre-action protocols, and a failure to comply is taken into account by the court when it awards costs.
The court process
If the debt remains, a claim is filed. Where the debtor has been duly served and does not appear or does not file a defence, judgment in default can be sought without a full hearing.
Where they appear but the defence is a pretext, we pursue summary judgment, so that the case is not dragged out at length without a substantive reason.
The settlement
Many cases end in agreement. The value of an agreement is decided by its terms: what happens on the first missed instalment, whether judgment can be entered without a fresh action, and what security exists behind the promise. A settlement without those is a delay with a signature on it.
Enforcement, which is where cases are actually won
A judgment is not money. It is the right to take steps against assets, and the value of those steps depends entirely on what the debtor still has and on whether you moved before anyone else did.
This is why the assessment at the start asks about assets rather than only about liability, and why the interval between the demand and the claim is not free: it is time in which a debtor who intends to pay nobody rearranges what there is.
What to send us
The contract or the invoices, the full correspondence, the payment history with dates, the exact legal name of the debtor, and anything you know about their assets. If a limitation period may be close, say so first.
Questions we are asked
Does a lawyer's demand letter actually work?
It resolves a significant proportion of cases without a court. It also matters procedurally: under the Civil Procedure Rules 2023 pre-action contact is provided for by the protocols in certain categories of case, and failing to comply is taken into account when costs are awarded.
What if the debtor never responds to the claim?
Where the debtor has been duly served and does not appear or file a defence, judgment in default can be sought without a full hearing. Where a defence is filed but is a pretext, summary judgment is the route.
Is a settlement agreement enough?
Only if its terms carry weight: what happens on the first missed instalment, whether judgment can be entered without starting again, and what security stands behind the promise. Without those it is a delay with a signature on it.
I have a judgment and still no money. What now?
A judgment is the right to take steps against assets, not the money itself. Its value depends on what the debtor still has and on whether you moved before other creditors did, which is why the assessment at the outset asks about assets and not only about liability.
Related reading
Where the debtor is a company, the statutory demand route is in recovering a debt from a Cyprus company. Where there is nothing in writing, see I lent money and there is nothing in writing. Time limits are in the limitation calculator.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws and their application can change, and individual circumstances differ. For advice on your own matter, contact Klitos Platis at klitos@kleanthousplatis.com or telephone +357 22 680 330.
Klitos Platis
Advocate, Partner
Kleanthous & Platis LLC, Nicosia · Published 16 August 2026
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