Overview
Recovery of commercial debt is, in our experience, the most consistently undervalued line item on a Fijian balance sheet. Receivables that should be paying suppliers, salaries and shareholders sit instead as an ageing column on a creditor's ledger — slowly losing value, slowly becoming the responsibility of someone other than the person who ought to be paying.
We have built a dedicated practice to change that. Neel Shivam Debt Collection (Fiji) Pte Limited is a separately incorporated commercial-collection company, owned by Neel Shivam and operating from Level 2 of our principal office at 11 Renwick Road, Suva. It runs a disciplined soft-collection process for our clients' overdue accounts — and where collection through ordinary commercial means is unsuccessful, the matter escalates seamlessly to Neel Shivam Lawyers for legal enforcement.
The combination is unusual in the Fijian market. Most debt-collection providers either lack the legal capability to escalate when needed, or are law firms charging legal-services rates for work that does not require a lawyer. We offer both, calibrated to each stage of the recovery.
The two-stage process
Every matter starts at the same place — and most of them finish before the second stage is needed.
Soft collection.
Disciplined commercial recovery without court action. Most matters resolve here.
- Account placement and processing
- Debtor profiling & intelligence
- Initial contact and structured negotiation
- Field visits to debtor premises
- Skip tracing for absconded debtors
- Payment-arrangement structuring & monitoring
Hard collection.
Court-led enforcement when commercial recovery is unsuccessful.
- Demand notices via registered bailiff
- Summons issued in the Magistrate's Court
- Judgment and enforcement
- Writ of execution and asset attachment
- Bankruptcy or winding-up proceedings
- Tracing and enforcement post-judgment
The escalation between the two stages is handled internally. Clients have a single point of contact, a single workflow, and a single report stream throughout. Where the soft-collection company recommends escalation, the legal team is already familiar with the file — no introduction, no duplicate work-up.
Have receivables ageing?
Let's discuss them.
A confidential conversation — no obligation. We will review your portfolio, give you an honest assessment of recoverability, and propose a workflow if it makes commercial sense to engage us.
Request a review →What we do
Our practice covers the complete commercial-debt lifecycle. We act for banking institutions, statutory bodies, corporate entities and SMEs across the Fiji Islands and for international credit agencies with Fijian-side recovery requirements.
Pre-action commercial collection
Structured outreach, debtor negotiation, payment-arrangement drafting and enforcement — designed to recover the debt without the cost and time of court proceedings.
Debtor profiling & tracing
Intelligence-led approach to each debtor. Skip tracing for those who have moved or gone silent. Field visits where in-person engagement is appropriate.
Court-led debt recovery
Magistrate's Court and High Court proceedings — demand notices, summons, judgment, writs of execution and the procedural sequence the Fijian courts require.
Insolvency & winding-up
Statutory demands, bankruptcy and winding-up petitions, receivership instructions, and acting for secured and unsecured creditors in contested insolvency matters.
Security enforcement
Mortgagee sales, debenture enforcement, share-charge enforcement, claims against guarantors and the recovery actions that follow secured-credit default.
Cross-border recovery
Acting as Fiji-side recovery counsel for international credit agencies and overseas creditors with debtors in the Fiji Islands.
How we work
Recovery is, in our view, fundamentally about discipline. Discipline of intake, of communication, of escalation and of reporting. A creditor who hands over a portfolio to a provider that lacks any of those disciplines is paying twice — once for the engagement, and once for the value of the debt that ages further while the provider runs unstructured.
Our process is structured around the discipline that produces results.
Intake & acknowledgement
Accounts can be placed with us by mail, fax, secure email or in person. Within 24 hours of completing a company or business-registration search, we provide acknowledgement of claim and confirmation of next steps.
Approach calibrated to the debtor
There is no single procedure that works on every debtor. Our collection professionals profile the debtor at intake and select the approach — telephone, written correspondence, field visit, formal demand — most likely to produce payment in the relevant case. Our position is firmly ethical: we do not believe in aggressive or improper tactics. The image of the creditor and the relationship between creditor and debtor remain matters of importance throughout.
Monthly reporting
Every client receives a monthly status report on every assigned claim — the position of each account, amounts collected, actions taken, and recommendations for matters that require escalation. The reporting cadence can be tailored to a client's internal requirements where standard monthly reporting is insufficient.
Continuous review & escalation
The status of almost all claims can be determined within 60 days. After that point we advise the client on available options. Where soft-collection efforts have been exhausted, the matter escalates to Neel Shivam Lawyers — with the existing file, the existing intelligence, and the existing relationship in place. The transition is internal to the practice and invisible to the debtor until enforcement begins.
When to engage us
The earlier a matter is placed, the higher the recovery rate. As a general principle, debts that have aged beyond 90 days warrant active recovery; debts that have aged beyond 180 days warrant urgent recovery before further deterioration. We work with clients to design recovery programmes that suit the rhythm of their business — whether occasional referral, structured monthly portfolio handover, or full receivables outsourcing.
- You have a portfolio of overdue commercial receivables you have been chasing internally without success.
- You are a bank or financial institution with non-performing facilities requiring structured recovery.
- You are a statutory body or government entity with outstanding fees, levies or contract debts.
- You operate in a sector — wholesale, services, manufacturing, hospitality — where aged debt is a material drag on cash flow.
- You are an international credit agency or overseas creditor with debtors located in the Fiji Islands.
- You have a single substantial debt that has crossed the threshold from "we'll chase it ourselves" to "this needs to be handed to professionals".
Frequently asked questions
How long before we see results?+
The status of almost all claims can be determined within 60 days of placement. Some matters resolve much faster — particularly where the debtor responds to the initial contact and a payment arrangement is structured promptly. For longer-running or more complex matters, the 60-day point is where we provide a structured recommendation on whether to continue soft collection, escalate to legal proceedings, or write off.
How are we kept updated?+
Monthly status reports on every assigned claim — position of the account, amounts collected, actions taken, recommendations. Reporting cadence can be tailored to a client's internal requirements where standard monthly reporting is insufficient.
What if the debt is disputed?+
Our field collectors are experienced in resolving disputes at the soft-collection stage, supported by Neel Shivam Lawyers where legal analysis of the dispute is required. Where the dispute is genuine and substantive, we will say so — we do not pursue collection of debts that are unlikely to be recovered on the merits. Where the dispute is a stalling tactic, the soft-collection process is calibrated to surface that and proceed accordingly.
When does legal action begin?+
Only with the client's authorisation, and only after the soft-collection stage has been exhausted or — in particular cases — where the nature of the matter makes immediate legal action the right step. The escalation point is structured. Our soft-collection team and the legal team are in the same building and on the same file; escalation is a workflow handoff, not a re-engagement.
Can interest be recovered on the debt?+
Generally yes — any contractually agreed interest rate should be added to the account at the time of placement, and where legal action becomes necessary, the interest is part of the legal demand. We will confirm the recoverable interest position based on the underlying contract and the applicable Fijian law.
Do you act on cross-border recoveries?+
Yes. We act as Fiji-side recovery counsel for international credit agencies, overseas creditors and offshore law firms with debtors located in the Fiji Islands. The process mirrors our domestic recovery workflow, with additional steps to address jurisdictional, exchange-control and remittance considerations.