Debt Recovery Without a Lawyer: Small Claims for Small Business
Recover what a customer owes you — yourself, without a lawyer — via the Small Claims Court: the demand letter, the forms, the default judgment, and how to enforce it. Plus the landmines (police, EFCC, debt-shaming) that flip you into the defendant.
by Sankofa Skills Studio · vetted expert author
What you'll gain
Every Nigerian small business eventually delivers the goods or the service and then waits — and waits — to be paid. This course teaches you to recover that money yourself, lawfully, without hiring a lawyer, using the tool built for exactly this: the Small Claims Court. Built from a source-graded 2026 research pass over the pre-court toolkit, the court framework, the filing and enforcement steps, the economics and a dated abuse museum, it is organised around three hard truths. First: a judgment is not money. Winning your case is only the halfway point — enforcement, garnisheeing the debtor’s bank account or seizing goods, is a separate fight, and against a “judgment-proof” debtor with no assets and no traceable account you can win on paper and recover nothing, so you decide whether a debtor is worth suing before you spend a naira. Second: recovery is a ladder of lawful steps — a friendly reminder, a firm follow-up, a negotiated payment plan, and a formal Letter of Demand — and most debts are recovered on that ladder, before any court. When court is needed, the Small Claims Court is purpose-built for you to run it yourself: no lawyer required, simple fill-in-the-blank forms, a sixty-day target from filing to judgment. You will learn whether your debt qualifies (a fixed, undisputed sum within your state’s ceiling — ₦5 million in Lagos, but ₦1 million in Ogun and ₦4 million in the FCT, and you cannot split a bigger debt to fit), how to file it step by step, how a debtor’s silence becomes a default judgment in your favour, how the six-year limitation clock works and how a signed acknowledgement or part-payment resets it, and how to enforce through fi-fa, a garnishee order on the bank, or a judgment-debtor summons. Third, and most dangerous: the landmines that flip you from creditor into defendant. Using the police or the EFCC to collect a civil debt is an abuse of process — the Supreme Court held the EFCC is not a debt-recovery agency, and courts now award damages against the creditor who tries it (a ₦560,000 dispute became ₦5 million owed the wrong way in a 2024 case). Publicly shaming a debtor online is defamation, with its own dated judgment (₦2 million plus a public apology). You will also learn the economics of when to pursue, settle or write off, prevention through deposits and credit checks, and the recovery-scam that preys on people chasing money. Two owners build alongside you — Chinedu, a Lagos supplier who runs a clean claim end to end and garnishees his way to payment, and Halima, an Abuja caterer who meets the hard cases: an above-ceiling debt, a disputed one, and a debtor who vanished. Where no dated Nigerian source exists — a filing-fee figure, a bad-debt survey, a rights-commission ruling — the course says so rather than invent one. Carry one line: recover lawfully, enforce deliberately, prevent relentlessly — and never let a civil debt turn you into the defendant. Orientation and capacity-building, not legal advice; every fee, ceiling, limitation period and case citation is a dated snapshot to verify at your own court registry before you rely on it.
Pass a real exam and earn a publicly verifiable certificate employers trust.
Unlimited practice mode + spaced-repetition flashcards, then unlimited exam retakes.
Keep the lessons and every future update to this course, forever.
What you'll cover
10 modules · 18 lessons · timed certification exam
1. Orientation: A Judgment Is Not Money, and the Police Are Not Your Collector 2 lessons
The two hardest truths up front — winning is not getting paid, and using the police or EFCC to collect a civil debt can flip you into the defendant; the reframe that recovery is a ladder of lawful steps you can climb without a lawyer; and the two owners y
- The two hard truths, and the lawful ladder · 24 min
- The two owners you build alongside · 18 min
2. The Pre-Court Ladder and the Debt File 2 lessons
The five rungs you climb before any court — reminder, firm follow-up, negotiation, a signed payment plan, the Letter of Demand; the debt file that makes a debt provable and recoverable; and the psychology of actually getting paid.
- The five rungs before court · 20 min
- The debt file — what makes a debt recoverable · 20 min
3. The Letter of Demand and the Limitation Clock 2 lessons
How to write a Letter of Demand yourself — the seven parts, the tone, the delivery, and the Lagos SCA-1 7-day rule; and the six-year limitation clock that kills an old debt, plus the acknowledgement-or-part-payment trick that resets it.
- Writing the Letter of Demand yourself · 22 min
- The six-year clock and how to reset it · 20 min
4. The Small Claims Court: What It Is, and Whether You Qualify 2 lessons
The court built for you to run yourself — no lawyer, ~60-day target, simple forms; the qualifying gate (liquidated sum, within the ceiling, territorial link, no splitting); the state-by-state money ceilings; and how to choose the right court when the SCC
- What the Small Claims Court is · 20 min
- The qualifying gate and choosing your court · 24 min
5. Filing the Claim, Step by Step 1 lessons
The Lagos worked example end to end — the SCA-1 demand, the SCA-2 Complaint Form and the debtor’s correct legal name, the evidence bundle, filing at the registry and the fee we will not invent, the Summons, and why service is the court’s job.
- From demand to Summons — the filing steps · 22 min
6. The Debtor’s Response and Winning (Including Default Judgment) 2 lessons
The three things a debtor can do — admit, dispute, or ignore; why silence is a deemed admission and the fastest route to a default judgment; and how the hearing runs if the debt is defended, where documents beat words and you represent yourself.
- Admit, dispute, or ignore — and the default path · 22 min
- If it is defended — winning the hearing · 20 min
7. Enforcement: Turning a Judgment Into Money 1 lessons
The real fight after you win — you are the intelligence unit who must find the debtor’s assets; the four tools (fi-fa, garnishee, judgment-debtor summons, immovable attachment); how a garnishee order works in two stages; and the blunt reality of the judgm
- The four enforcement tools · 24 min
8. The Economics: Pursue, Settle, or Write Off? 2 lessons
Treating a debt as an investment decision — the value of pursuing, the pivotal collection-probability, the sunk-cost trap and the age-of-debt curve; the alternatives to DIY court; and the prevention and credit-control that stop bad debt before it starts.
- Pursue, settle, or write off · 22 min
- Alternatives and prevention · 18 min
9. The Landmines: What Turns YOU Into the Defendant 2 lessons
The three ways a creditor becomes the wrongdoer — using the police or EFCC for a civil debt, debt-shaming as defamation, and the loan-app crackdown as a dated museum of what not to do; plus the data-protection line you must not cross.
- Police, EFCC, and debt-shaming · 24 min
- The loan-app museum and the data-protection line · 18 min
10. The Recovery-Scam Museum, the Honest Verdict, and Your Action Plan 2 lessons
The predators who prey on people chasing money; the honest gaps this course refuses to fill with invention; the honest verdict on what small claims can and cannot do; and the action plan that ties the whole course together.
- The recovery scam and the honest gaps · 20 min
- The honest verdict and your action plan · 20 min
Frequently asked
Is the certificate verifiable?
Yes. Every certificate carries a unique ID and a cryptographic signature. Anyone — an employer or a client — can confirm it instantly on our public verification page, with no login.
Who teaches this course?
A vetted expert author — Sankofa Skills Studio. Every expert course is reviewed and fact-checked before publication, and the author earns a revenue share on your enrolment.
How long do I have access?
Lifetime. Once you enrol you keep access to the lessons, practice mode and flashcards — including future updates to this course.
What happens if I don't pass the exam first time?
You can retake it — up to 5 attempts, with a 12-hour wait between attempts. Practice mode is unlimited, so rehearse with the same verified question bank until you're ready.
Can my team enrol together?
Yes. Talk to us about group and organisation rates — certifying a whole team is faster and cheaper than one at a time.
Continue your path
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