Whether it’s personal or business debt, if someone owes you money it can be very frustrating, especially if you don’t know where they are.
There are many ways of tracing a person within the public domain that can be used, however if you fail to find the debtor, even if you’ve found some information this could help when turning to a professional tracing agent.
But, here’s where to start:
Social media
With over 2.95 billion people using social media worldwide, it’s highly likely that your debtor will have a social media account.
You can use the information one these accounts to locate the person or to get in contact with them.
If the person’s social media profile is set to private so that you can’t see anything, if that’s the case try and connect to other people they know and see if you can get in contact that way.
LinkedIn is a great social networking site to use as it’s almost guaranteed that you’ll be able to obtain their workplace address, which is a good starting place.
Online tracing sites
There are many sites such as White Pages UK and 192.com that can aid you in finding the contact details for a person.
192.com allows you to search Electoral Rolls from 2002 to 2013, Directory Enquiries, business searches, Director Reports and the Birth, Marriage & Death registers. This can help you to find residential addresses, phone numbers and other household occupants.
Write a letter
If you have managed to obtain the address of the debtor, you could send them a formal demand letter telling them to get in touch with you and including a deadline from the date that they receive the letter.
Don’t make the letter threatening, however ensure that you specify what will happen if you don’t hear from them while remaining professional.
When sending the letter make sure that you send it with return receipt requested so that you will receive confirmation once the debtor has signed for it.
Talk to others
If you have any friends or business associates in common, talking to them might be beneficial as they might be able to tell you how to get in touch with the debtor.
If you know any of the debtors family members, they may be able to help you track down them down. The debtor may be hiding from you so that they don’t have to pay but it’s unlikely that they’ll be hiding from close family.
Hire a tracing agent
If you still haven’t been successful in finding your debtor, then it’s time to turn to a professional tracing agent.
They have access to a range of resources not available to everyone that means they can quickly and efficiently trace a debtor with the information you provide.
They usually require a full last known address for the subject and this will speed up the process. If you know that the subject has moved and you may not have the up to date record then it will require a more in-depth search.
Either way these experienced professionals have all the tools and expertise to trace your debtor.