We secured a RM5,000-a-month repayment arrangement for an RM80,000 trade debt with no documentation: 0 contracts, 0 delivery orders and 0 purchase orders.
A longtime client came to see me convinced she had already lost.
She had a customer who was also her good friend for many years. Because of their close relationship, she'd never bothered being strict with proper documentation like sales contracts, delivery orders and purchase orders.
She said this upfront, almost apologetically, and asked whether there was any point trying to recover the money at all. In her mind, no paperwork meant no case.
I told her the same thing I tell many clients in her exact position... proper documents always strengthen a claim, especially when a dispute arises. They make the process cleaner and faster.
But the lack of documents does not mean the claim does not exist. The law favors substance over form.
I asked her for the bare minimum: a summary of how the debt arose, the debtor’s details, and whatever evidence she had.
She sent over a few WhatsApp screenshots of the debtor repeatedly promising to pay, asking for time, and acknowledging that money was owed. I had a hunch I might be needing these.
I prepared a notice of demand and reached out to the debtor. His response came quickly and followed the familiar script:
“Ada kontrak? Ada PO? Ada DO?”
He knew my client did not have those documents and assumed the conversation would end there.
Instead, I forwarded his own messages back to him. Clear statements promising payment + clear acknowledgments of the debt without room for interpretation.
He had nothing meaningful to say after that.
His tone changed but was still belligerent... he claimed the messages were sent “on a goodwill basis” only. Then, in the same breath, he said he wanted to avoid further issues and proposed to settle the matter out of court by paying RM5,000 per month.
My client was relieved. We documented the settlement properly this time. When I first shared this story in February, the debtor had been paying monthly.
The takeaway is simple: no contract does not mean no debt. There are other ways the debt can be proven. In this case, the debtor's own words betrayed him and a few casual WhatsApp messages carried more weight than a missing stack of documents.
Rudi Cheu (rudi@rulecolaw.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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