Skip Tracing

What it is

Skip tracing is the process of locating a debtor who has changed address, gone quiet or otherwise become hard to contact. It draws on databases, public records, business registers and other lawful sources to confirm where a debtor lives or trades and how to reach them.

The name comes from a debtor who has 'skipped' — moved on without leaving forwarding details — leaving a debt unresolved.

Why it matters

You cannot recover a debt from someone you cannot find. Accurate skip tracing reactivates accounts that looked uncollectable and provides the current details needed to send a demand, serve a claim or apply for a garnishee order. It is often the difference between writing a debt off and recovering it.

Merion includes locating and verifying debtors as part of its recovery work at refer a debt.

Good to know

This is general information and not legal advice. Skip tracing must be carried out lawfully and in line with privacy obligations, using legitimate information sources rather than improper or intrusive means. The quality of the original account details — full names, ABNs, dates of birth, prior addresses and contact numbers — strongly affects how quickly and reliably a debtor can be located. This is one reason it pays to collect accurate customer information up front, before an account ever becomes overdue, so that a debtor cannot simply disappear and leave the debt stranded.