Debt collection is the process of recovering unpaid debts such as invoices. And as the technology made global business and trade to become a small village where the business and the payments are made through internet without physical connection between the parties, the obstacles of unpaid debts started appearing with increased pace and frequency.

In Egypt, debt collectors are normally attorneys as opposed to the internationally known collection agencies. From practical experience and cases handled by our law firm for clients from Europe, Asia, Africa, U.S and the Middle East, a brief overview of the debt collection in Egypt is presented below.

Debt collection rates:

Youssry Saleh and Partners follows international standard rates for debt collection cases based on contingency rates ranging from 15% to 45% in commercial, corporate, maritime and business contracts. The rate mainly depends on the date of the invoice and the complexity of the case. In addition, one of the controlling factors in determining the rates of debt collection is litigation, and arbitration procedures.

Type of debts collected in Egypt

One of the major questions asked by the creditor: 'What are the debts collected in Egypt?' The collector (an attorney) collects both personal and corporate debts and to be more specific here are some but not all of the services that a collector can provide:

Personal debts

  1. Personal loan debts
  2. Car loan debts
  3. Insurance

Corporate and business debts:

  1. Commercial and consumer debts
  2. Insolvency
  3. Insurance
  4. Credit card
  5. Maritime including debt collection in shipping
  6. Invoices

There are other services related to business and commercial debts that a law firm can provide for the creditor in Egypt; most of these cases are related to import and export. Many exporters refer debt collection cases being anxious and doubtful about the success of the process. However, to shed light on the matter it is important to discuss some details related to debt collection in Egypt.

How do debt collectors collect debts in Egypt?

We, at Youssry Saleh Law Firm in Egypt, know very well that business and law are connected together and the most important factors in this relation related to debt collection are: speedy return of outstanding amounts to creditors, professional techniques utilized throughout the process, ability to restore working relationship between debtors and creditors. Therefore, all of these factors are kept in mind while performing services.

Our first step is negotiation

The law firm initiates the process of debt collection by sending notification letters and conducting phone calls with the debtors whereby attempts are made to convince the referred to party to settle their debts. This step is performed using contact information submitted by the creditor, or alternatively, a specialized team of specialist performs mini investigation and search to obtain pertinent contact and other information related to the debtor.

This phase according to our experience frequently brings positive outcomes resulting in full or partial settlement of debts in a short time and extended business relationship between the two parties after the case is over.

Our second step is a law suit

In some of the cases when negotiation reaches a deadlock the only solution is to enforce law in order to recover the money. At this stage, the competent court is normally defined by the contract governing relationship between the creditor and debtor.

  1. Arbitration: in most of contracts arbitration is the selected mechanism for settling disputes in the agreement between the creditor and the debtor. Therefore, we assist the client throughout the whole process whether arbitration process from the beginning or enforcement of foreign arbitral awards.
  2. Law suit: in the case where competent courts is the selected mechanism for settling disputes in the agreement our law firm raises the case before the competent court submitting all the evidence it receives from the creditor such as invoices and contract.

A Closing Note

Debt collection in Egypt causes some insecurities and frustrations to foreign businessmen who are not aware of the Egyptian legal environment. This article aimed to eliminate some concerns by providing a brief overview on the subject. On the final note, Youssry Saleh and Partners has witnessed positive outcomes during the negotiation phase where time and resources of the client were saved and business relationship between the parties restored.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.