Debt recovery fees (up to £100,000)

We offer many different services to our clients in relation to debt recovery work and we are happy to meet with you to consider your requirements and how we may assist you. We will also provide you with details of our fees at our meeting which will be confirmed to you in writing.

Debt recovery is handled by our Litigation team which consists of Andrew Wiles and Alison Kemsley. Our team has over 70 years of collective experience in delivering high quality work in all matters relating debt recovery.

As part of our service, we will:

• Provide you with an experienced solicitor to work on your matter
• Take your instructions and review documentation
• Undertake appropriate searches
• Send a letter before action
• If payment is not received, draft and issue the claim at court
• Apply for a judgement in default if there is no acknowledgment of service or defence received
• Serve the judgment in default and request payment
• In the event of non payment of the judgment, advise you how the judgment can be enforced
• If the matter is defended, continue to act for you in relation to the claim until the conclusion of a trial or mediation
• If at any time payment is received, send it onto you.

Fixed fees

We can only apply fixed fees where your claim is in relation to an unpaid invoice which is not disputed.

Prior to issue of claim example

Taking instructions, reviewing documentation, undertaking appropriate searches and sending letter before action
Our costs will be £300 plus VAT or a total of £360
Disbursements (costs payable to others)
Company search fee £various

How long will this take?
We aim to have a letter before action ready to be sent within 2 weeks.

Court claim example

Drafting and issuing claim, applying for default judgment, serving the same and requesting payment.
Claims up to £5,000 £750 plus VAT or a total of £900
Claims between £5,001 to £10,000 £1,250 plus VAT or a total of £1,500
Claims between £10,001 to £50,000 £1,750 plus VAT or a total of £2,100
Claims between £50,001 to £100,00 £2,250 plus VAT or a total of £2,700
Claims over £100,001 may be fixed by agreement
Disbursements (costs payable to others)
Company search fee £various

Court fees:

Claim amount	Fee payable
Up to £300	£35
£300.01 to £500	£50
£500.01 to £1,000	£70
£1,000.01 to £1,500	£80
£1,500.01 to £3,000	£115
£3,000.01 to £5,000	£205
£5,000.01 to £10,000	£455
£10,000.01 to £200,000	5% of the claim
More than £200,000	£10,000

Anyone proceeding with a claim should note that for a business to business claim the VAT element of our fees cannot be recovered from the debtor. Interest may take the debt into a higher banding of both court fee and our costs.

How long will this take?

We aim to have the claim prepared for issuing within 2 to 3 weeks of being instructed to issue proceedings, the debtor has 14 days to acknowledge service of the proceedings and if an
acknowledgment of service has been lodged with the court, the debtor has a further 14 days to lodge a defence. After the time limit for acknowledging or defending has expired, the judgment in default will be applied for within a few days. The court may take 2 -4 weeks to return the default judgment which will then be served by us within a few days.

Potential additional costs
We will always confirm to you any additional costs for work not included in our fees whether fixed or estimated. The following are examples of work which is will incur additional costs:

• additional correspondence or communication with you or the debtor
• negotiations
• enforcement action
• statutory demands
• arranging mediation
• contested actions
• instructing barristers
• attendances at court or at mediation.

All additional work will be charged at our hourly rate of £250 plus VAT unless a fixed fee is agreed with you for any further aspect of our work. We will discuss any additional work with you and provide you will detailed estimate of our fees.