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International Debt Collection : Around the world in 80 debts

For many businesses, recovering an overseas debt can feel like an impossible challenge. Yet as the global economy continues to grow and technological advances enable us to forge ever more links with customers and suppliers in other nations, finding more effective ways to deal with overseas debt is becoming a priority for many companies.

A recent report on the difficulties of international debt recovery warned that global business insolvency is set to rise by as much as 10% by the end of 2022 and 14% in 2023. Finding the most efficient and effective ways to collect international debt is essential to navigating these choppy economic waters.

Location is important for debt collection overseas

To an extent, the difficulty of recovering a debt in another country depends on location. Europe remains the easiest place to collect a debt, although even in Europe, there are significant variations.

According to our experience, Scandinavia and Germany are the best places in the world to collect international debt. This is due to the payment practices of companies in those nations, and the efficiency of the local court systems in reaching their decisions.

As a rule of thumb, debt collection complexity increases the further South you go. France remains a lot easier than Spain or Italy, but the Turkish Courts can be more efficient than the Greek ones.

Impact of insolvency for debt collection overseas

The same goes with Insolvency. The insolvency-related complexity remains an enduring problem around the world and ensures that the overall level of global debt recovery complexity is high. The two major North American overseas markets of the US and Canada both remain highly complex and the cost of recovering debts in these markets reflect this.

Elsewhere, the gap between advanced economic systems and emerging markets remains significant. The Middle East, Africa and Asia are the three economic regions where debt collection is most complex. To take one example, debt collection in Saudi Arabia is very complicated with the United Arab Emirates not far behind. Collection complexity is also inextricably linked to access to personal and financial data.

Positive changes in debt collection overseas

While the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have encouraged some nations to reform aspects of their debt recovery framework so that the international trend is moving in the right direction, the overall state of international debt collection remains tough.

It’s particularly tough in some of the major Asian nations, where UK firms are attempting to forge stronger economic links post Brexit and make the most of the multiple Trade Agreements being sealed. In fact, seven Asian economies: Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, India and Japan remain difficult markets and the costs of collection is significantly higher in this region.

Debt collection overseas delt with by an international debt collection agency

Given the complex global debt collection environment, many UK companies are choosing to seek the advice and help of specialised international debt recovery agencies. The local expertise of our international debt recovery agents spans the globe and can help you to navigate the treacherous waters of overseas debt collection. Get in touch today and find out how we can solve your international debt problems. CLI is a member of the TCM Group  and has extensive expertise in international debt collection.

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