An unpaid invoice is not a legal problem until it becomes a cash flow problem. By the time most creditors call us, the debtor has stopped replying to emails, the payment plan has been broken twice, and the amount outstanding has been sitting on the balance sheet long enough to matter.
At Triangle Legal LLC, we act for businesses and individuals on debt recovery, creditor enforcement and insolvency proceedings. Whether you are a creditor seeking debt recovery or a company in financial distress, our goal is to provide strategic, practical solutions that protect your interests while ensuring compliance with Singapore's insolvency laws.
Our debt recovery lawyers act for suppliers, landlords, lenders, professional firms and management corporations across Singapore. A debt collection agency can chase payment. A debt collection lawyer can issue a statutory demand, sue, and enforce a judgment against the debtor's assets, which is the difference that matters once a debtor has stopped replying.
A properly drafted letter of demand from a law firm resolves a large share of commercial debts without proceedings ever being issued. It sets out the debt, the contractual or statutory basis for it, the interest claimed, and a firm deadline, and it signals to the debtor that the next step is court rather than another reminder email.
We issue letters of demand on a fixed fee, agreed before we start, so the cost of the first step is known and proportionate to the debt. Where the debtor responds, we negotiate and document a payment arrangement that is enforceable if it is breached, rather than an informal promise that simply resets the clock. Our guide to letters of demand and litigation in Singapore explains what a demand should contain and what a debtor's options are on receiving one.
Holding an unpaid invoice? The next step is inexpensive. We issue letters of demand on a fixed fee agreed before we start, so you know the cost of the first step before you take it. Send us the invoice and the underlying contract.
Unpaid invoices, breached settlement agreements, loan defaults, unpaid rent and service charges. We assess the strength of the paper trail, confirm the right forum by value, and issue proceedings where the debtor will not engage. Claims up to S$60,000 are generally heard in the Magistrates' Court and up to S$250,000 in the District Court, which materially affects the cost of recovery. Where the debt is genuinely disputed, the matter becomes a contractual dispute instead.
Where a corporate debtor is unable to pay a debt exceeding the statutory threshold, a statutory demand under the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 gives 21 days to pay before a winding-up application can be made. For a solvent debtor that is simply refusing to pay, this is frequently the fastest lever available. For a genuinely insolvent one it is the start of a different process, and we will tell you which situation you are in before you spend money on it. Where the debtor has collapsed, our insolvency and liquidation team pursues your claim in the winding up.
A judgment is not payment. We enforce through writs of seizure and sale, garnishee proceedings against the debtor's bank accounts or trade receivables, examination of judgment debtor to establish what assets exist, and where appropriate winding up or bankruptcy. See our enforcement of judgment practice for the mechanics.
Management corporations recovering unpaid maintenance contributions and sinking fund arrears occupy a distinct statutory position under the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act 2004, including the ability to recover contributions as a debt and to charge interest on arrears. A strata property dispute lawyer is frequently instructed by the council rather than by a resident, and we advise councils and managing agents on recovery strategy, on when a matter belongs before the Strata Titles Board, and on enforcement against a defaulting subsidiary proprietor.
We also act for debtors. Where a statutory demand has been served on a debt that is genuinely disputed on substantial grounds, or subject to a cross-claim, it can be set aside, and an application to restrain a winding-up petition may be available. Responding properly within the 21 days matters a great deal. Where the debtor is an individual, our personal bankruptcy practice advises on the bankruptcy route.
We run ACRA, litigation, winding-up and where relevant bankruptcy searches. These show what is already on the record against the debtor: competing claims, prior judgments, a pending winding-up petition. What they cannot tell you is whether the debtor will actually pay, because that is rarely knowable until enforcement is under way. We use them to see where you would rank, not to predict recovery. Where the non-payment masks dishonesty, our fraud and asset recovery lawyers can move to freeze assets.
For most debts the correct first step is a fixed-fee letter of demand, not a writ. It is cheap, it works often enough to be the default, and it costs you very little if it does not.
If the demand fails, we choose between a court claim and a statutory demand based on the debtor's solvency and the nature of any dispute, and we tell you the expected cost and timeline of each before you decide.
We treat enforcement as part of the plan rather than an afterthought, because the enforcement route often determines whether the claim was worth bringing at all.
Waiting until you are certain the debtor can pay is the expensive option, because that is rarely knowable until enforcement is under way. A judgment keeps its value even where the debtor looks empty today: under the Limitation Act 1959 it stays enforceable for twelve years, and a creditor who already holds judgment ranks ahead of one still arguing about liability.
Request a complimentary 10-minute case assessment and we will tell you where you would rank and what the proportionate next step is.
We will tell you when a debt is not worth pursuing. Spending S$15,000 to chase S$12,000 is not a legal strategy, and we would rather lose the instruction than take it on that basis. Delay is the bigger risk: every month a sum goes unpaid, assets are sold or charged to another creditor and the debt gets harder to collect.
Fixed fee for the letter of demand, and a stage-by-stage estimate for everything after it. Note that Singapore's professional conduct rules do not permit contingency or commission-based fees, so no law firm here can lawfully act for a percentage of what it collects.
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Your matter is handled by our Founder and Managing Director, Nico Lee, and senior counsel, rather than passed to a junior associate.
For businesses with recurring arrears, we run recovery as a standing process with agreed escalation triggers, rather than instructing on each debt from scratch.
Recovery frequently leads somewhere else, and we move the matter to the right team inside the firm rather than passing you outside it.
It depends on what the debtor is responding to. A collection agency can chase payment and may be sufficient for a debtor who simply needs prompting. Only a debt collection law firm can issue a statutory demand, commence proceedings, obtain judgment and enforce it against the debtor's assets. Where the debtor is disputing liability or ignoring correspondence, the agency route usually delays matters rather than resolving them.
We issue letters of demand on a fixed fee agreed before we begin, so the cost is known at the outset and stays proportionate to the size of the debt. The fee depends on the complexity of the underlying contract rather than the sum claimed. Where the contract provides for it, or where the court later awards costs, part of this may be recoverable from the debtor.
You then choose between issuing a court claim and, for a corporate debtor, serving a statutory demand under the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018. The statutory demand gives 21 days to pay and opens the door to a winding-up application, which is often the more effective pressure where the debtor is solvent but simply refusing to pay. We advise on which route fits your debtor before you commit.
Under the Limitation Act 1959 most contractual debt claims must be brought within six years of the date the cause of action accrued, generally when payment fell due. A written acknowledgement of the debt or a part payment by the debtor can restart that period. Because a time-barred debt is unrecoverable however strong the underlying paperwork, older arrears should be reviewed sooner rather than later.
Usually some of both. Contractual interest is claimable where the agreement provides for it, and the court has discretion to award interest even where it does not. On costs, a successful party is generally entitled to recover a portion of its legal costs, assessed by the court, rather than the full amount incurred. Contracts with a well-drafted costs and interest clause recover materially more.
Yes. Under the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act 2004 contributions and sinking fund arrears are recoverable from a subsidiary proprietor as a debt, and interest may be charged on amounts in arrears. Recovery is typically pursued through the courts, with the Strata Titles Board handling certain other categories of strata dispute. Councils and managing agents should keep clean records of levies, notices and interest, because these are what the claim rests on.
Act within the 21 days. Where the debt is genuinely disputed on substantial grounds, or where you hold a cross-claim that equals or exceeds the sum demanded, the demand can be challenged and an injunction may be available to restrain the presentation of a winding-up application. Ignoring a statutory demand in the hope that it goes away is the single most expensive response available.
If an invoice has gone unpaid long enough that you are reading this page, the next step is a short conversation and a fixed-fee demand. Contact Triangle Legal LLC to request a complimentary 10-minute case assessment. It is confidential, and there is no obligation to take things further.
