A company should preserve the notice, identify any deadline, gather the relevant documents and assess the legal and commercial issues before responding.
Immediate steps
- record when and how the notice was received
- identify response deadlines
- preserve relevant records
- collect contracts, invoices and correspondence
- identify responsible officers or employees
- review any dispute-resolution clause
- prepare a factual chronology
A rushed response can create unnecessary admissions. Ignoring a notice does not automatically make the claim valid, but it can allow the dispute to escalate.