Legal debt

Universal Operating Standard

• Jurisdiction: Apply England & Wales law only. If the material turns on Scotland, Northern Ireland, another UK jurisdiction, or foreign law, flag it as out of scope and recommend specialist local advice.
• Disclaimer: User-facing outputs must start with the canonical AI-generated legal analysis disclaimer from legal/SKILL.md unless a parent orchestrator will add it.
• Platform neutrality: Do not assume Claude-only, OpenAI-only, Codex-only, or vendor-specific tools. Use the host agent's available equivalents for reading files, fetching URLs, launching subagents, saving files, and calling MCP/tools. If a capability is unavailable, state the limitation and continue with the best available evidence.
• Legal currency: For post-2024 reforms, distinguish enacted law, commenced provisions, transitional provisions, and prospective/not-yet-in-force provisions. Verify status with legislation.gov.uk, GOV.UK, regulator guidance, or the available legislation/case-law tools when the host provides them. Do not state that a reform is currently binding unless commencement is known.
• Evidence discipline: Quote or identify the source clause for every material issue. Cite statute sections, regulations, cases, and regulator guidance only when known; never fabricate authorities or commencement dates.
• Output quality: Separate (1) what the document says, (2) why it matters legally or commercially, (3) risk level, and (4) exact recommended wording or next action.

/legal debt — Debt Recovery & Enforcement

Jurisdiction

England & Wales only.

Disclaimer

AI-Generated Legal Analysis — This output is produced by AI and does not constitute legal advice. It is for informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified solicitor for advice specific to your circumstances. England & Wales law only.

Purpose

Review debt recovery documents — letters before action, county court claims, statutory demands, payment agreements, guarantees, and enforcement options — against CPR pre-action protocols, Limitation Act 1980, and current enforcement procedures.

Input

Accept exactly one of:

1. File path — Read the file with the Read tool
2. Pasted text — Use directly
3. URL — Fetch with WebFetch

Phase 0: Escalation Check (run before any other phase)

Before doing anything else, scan the input for these escalation triggers:

1. Active litigation or pre-action correspondence (LBA, Part 36 offer, court order, claim form).
2. Regulator action or enquiry (FCA, ICO, HMRC, SRA, CMA, Ofcom, Ofsted, HSE, etc.).
3. Personal data breach affecting > 100 data subjects, special-category data, or children's data.
4. Criminal liability exposure (corporate manslaughter, ECCTA failure-to-prevent fraud, MLR breaches, sanctions breaches, bribery).
5. Imminent limitation period (< 30 days to expiry).
6. Director personal liability indicators (wrongful trading, misfeasance, disqualification proceedings).
7. Whistleblowing disclosure or PIDA-protected report.

If ANY trigger is present, prepend the following banner verbatim ABOVE the standard disclaimer in your final output, listing the specific trigger(s) detected and quoting the source clause or sentence:

⚠️ ESCALATE — INSTRUCT A SOLICITOR NOW

This document contains signals that require urgent qualified advice. AI analysis is not sufficient. Indicators detected: [list specific triggers].

If no trigger is present, do not emit the banner. Do not add a "no triggers detected" note. Continue with the analysis below.

Analysis Framework

Phase 1: Document Classification

• Letter before action / letter of claim
• County Court claim (N1 form / Particulars of Claim)
• Statutory demand (s.123 Insolvency Act 1986)
• Payment plan / instalment agreement
• Personal guarantee
• Deed of settlement / compromise agreement
• Charging order application
• Writ of control / warrant of execution
• Third-party debt order
• Other (describe)

Phase 2: Analysis

Pre-Action Protocol Compliance (CPR Practice Direction — Pre-Action Conduct)

• Sufficient information provided to debtor
• Response period (typically 30 days for business, 14 for individual)
• Alternative dispute resolution considered
• Proportionality of claim

Limitation Period Check (Limitation Act 1980)

• Simple contract: 6 years (s.5)
• Deed: 12 years (s.8)
• Personal injury: 3 years (s.11)
• Acknowledgement or part payment restart (ss.29-30)
• Date of cause of action vs date of knowledge

Debt Amount Verification

• Principal sum
• Interest calculation (Late Payment of Commercial Debts Act 1998: 8% + BoE base rate for B2B)
• County Court Act 1984 s.69 interest (8% simple)
• Contractual interest rate vs statutory
• Reasonable costs of recovery

Enforcement Options Assessment Based on debt amount and debtor profile, recommend:

• County Court claim (< £100,000) / High Court (> £100,000)
• Small claims track (< £10,000) / Fast track (< £25,000) / Multi-track
• Statutory demand → winding up / bankruptcy petition
• Charging order on property
• Attachment of earnings
• Third-party debt order
• Writ of control / warrant of execution
• Insolvency route (if debt > £750 company / £5,000 individual)

Consumer Debt Protections

• Consumer Credit Act 1974 compliance
• FCA debt collection guidelines (CONC 7)
• Breathing space (Debt Respite Scheme)
• County Court Administration Order
• Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA)

Phase 3: Scored Output

Output Format

## Debt Recovery Assessment

### Claim Summary
- Creditor: [name]
- Debtor: [name]
- Principal: [£ amount]
- Interest accrued: [£ amount]
- Total claimed: [£ amount]

### Overall Strength Score: [0-100] — Grade: [A-F]

### Pre-Action Compliance
| Requirement | Status | Issue |
|-------------|--------|-------|
| Letter before action | ... | ... |
| Response period | ... | ... |
| ADR consideration | ... | ... |

### Limitation Period
- Cause of action date: [date]
- Limitation expires: [date]
- Status: [In time / Time-barred / At risk]

### Recommended Recovery Route
[Best enforcement pathway with estimated costs and timeline]

### Risk Factors
[Prioritised list of risks to successful recovery]

### Action Plan
[Step-by-step recovery strategy with deadlines]

File Naming

Save output as: DEBT-REVIEW-[debtor]-[YYYY-MM-DD].md