Debt Recovery Pricing

Stage 1 – Pre-Legal Action – Fixed Costs – Standard Debt Recovery

The first step in recovering a debt is to send a Letter Before Claim.  This is a procedural requirement under the Civil Procedure Pre Action Protocol for Debt Claims.  The nature and content of the Letter will depend upon particulars facts surrounding the debt.  We will discuss with you whether a Standard or Bespoke letter is appropriate based on the specific facts of each case.

A Standard Debt Recovery claim will typically be a straightforward claim in respect of an unpaid invoice for goods or services supplied by you.

Action	Our Fixed Costs
Drafting Standard Letter Before Action	£100.00 plus VAT
Pre-Legal review (if required)
up to £10,000	£750.00 plus VAT
£10,000- £25,000	£1000.00 plus VAT
£25,000 upwards	£2,500.00 plus VAT

In addition to the above Fixed Cost, a commission will be charged on any monies recovered at the Pre-Legal stage i.e. before court proceedings are issued.  The commission charge will only be applied to monies recovered.

Our commission charge is 10% plus VAT on all sums actually recovered (whether received by us or directly by you) for all debts less than two years old.

If the debt referred to us by you is more than two years old (an “aged debt”) we will charge a 15% commission.

Note: If the debt requires a Bespoke Letter of Claim, then Hourly Rates shall apply (see table below entitled “Claims in excess of £10,000 – Court Action – Hourly rates”).

A Bespoke Letter of Claim will typically involve specialist drafting by a Solicitor and often goes beyond a debt based on an unpaid invoice for goods or services.

Stage 2 – Court Proceedings

If the Letter of Claim does not result in payment then it may be necessary to commence Court proceedings. If so, the following Fixed Fee Structure shall apply:

Sum Claimed	Court Fee	Our Fixed Costs	Total
Up to £300.00	£35.00	£50.00 plus VAT	£85.00
£300.00 but not over £500.00	£50.00	£50.00 plus VAT	£100.00
£500.00 but not over £1000.00	£70.00	£70.00 plus VAT	£140.00
£1000.00 but not over £1,500	£80.00	£80.00 plus VAT	£160.00
£1500 but not over £3000	£115.00	£80.00 plus VAT	£195.00
£3,000.00 but not over £5,000	£205.00	£80.00 plus VAT	£285.00
£5,000 but not over £10,000	£455.00	£100.00 plus VAT	£555.00
£10,000 but not over £100,000.00	5% of the claim	Hourly rates apply	Depends on precise value of sum claimed
£100,000 but not over £200,000	5% of the claim	Hourly rates apply	Depends on precise value of sum claimed
Over £200,000	£10,000	Hourly rates apply	Bespoke costs advice shall be provided

If the Defendant fails to respond to the Proceedings, then we will enter a request for Judgment in Default on your behalf. The following fixed fees for doing so shall also apply:

Sum Claimed	Our Fixed Costs
Less than £5000	£22.00
Over £5,000	£30.00

Defended Actions

If following Court proceedings being issued, the claim is disputed by the Defendant, then the following fixed charges shall apply in addition to those detailed in Stage 1 above.

Fixed Fees for Contested Small Claims matters (i.e. less £10,000 or less)

Action	Our Fixed Costs
Fixed fee for dealing with standard defended small claims matter up to £5,000.00	£1,500.00 plus VAT
Fixed fee for dealing with standard defended small claims matter between £5001.00 and £10,000.00	£2,500.00 plus VAT

These Fixed Costs include:-

• Taking your instructions, reviewing documentation and dealing with all routine correspondence with the Defendant and Court; and
• Preparing witness evidence; and
• Instructing an advocate to attend the final Small Claims Hearing.

These Fixed Costs exclude:-

• Court hearing fees (these range from £80 to £335 dependant on the value of the claim).
• Advocates’ fees (these range from £500 to £1500 plus VAT).
• Expert fees (if required)
• Any application required during the course of proceedings e.g. summary judgment application.

Claims in excess of £10,000 – Hourly rates apply [2]

Seniority of Fee-Earner	Our Hourly rates (plus VAT)
Senior Solicitor (Band A)	£345.00
Solicitor (Band B)	£280.00
Junior Solicitor (Band C)	£245.00
Trainee Solicitor/Paralegal/Legal Executive (Band D)	£165.00

Stage 3 – Enforcement Costs

Once Judgment has been obtained either by default or following a contested hearing/trial, then it may be necessary to enforce the Judgment. If so, we shall discuss with you the various enforcement methods available. Typically these include the following (although we may discuss other methods depending upon the circumstances of your case).

Charging Order

Action	Cost (£)
Our fixed fee	£500 plus VAT
Court Fee	£119.00
Obtaining Official Copies	£3.00
Land Registry fee	If done electronically, the fee is £20.00 for the first three titles and £10 thereafter.
Dealing with Charging Order Application	£500.00 plus VAT

Bankruptcy Petition

Action	Costs
Drafting a Statutory Demand	£450.00 plus VAT
Service of Statutory Demand	£100.00 plus VAT
Drafting Petition	£1,500.00 plus VAT
Court fee	£302.00 (Creditor’s Petition)
Search fee	£45.00
Service fee	£100.00 plus VAT
Agent’s filing fee	£100.00 plus VAT
Advocate’s fee	£500.00 plus VAT
Official Receiver’s deposit	£1,500.00

Winding Up Petition

Action	Costs
Our Fixed Costs for Drafting Petition	£1,500.00 plus VAT
Process Server fee	£100.00 plus VAT
Court fee	£302.00
Search fee	£12.00
Advocate’s fee	£500.00 plus VAT
London Gazette fee	£90.00 plus VAT
Official Receiver’s deposit	£2,600.00
Advocacy fee	£250.00 plus VAT

[1] Quotes and fees for claims outside of the England & Wales jurisdiction are quoted on a case-by-case basis due to varying agent fees and disbursements.

[2] Hourly rates are banded in terms of seniority and experience with higher charge-out rates applying for more senior solicitors.  The Bands range from A to D, as follows; –

Band A – Solicitor with over 8 years’ post qualification experience including at least eight years’ litigation experience.

Band B – Solicitors and legal executives with over four years’ post qualification experience including at least four years’ litigation experience.

Band C – Other solicitors and legal executives and fee earners of equivalent experience.

Band D – Trainee solicitors, paralegals and other fee earners.  “Legal Executive” means a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives.

Anti-Money Laundering Checks

We charge a fee of £20 plus VAT per person to undertake Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks. This fee may increase if there are international elements involved or where further work must be undertaken to satisfy our obligations to identify and verify a client or a third party in the transaction such as a giftor who we are similarly required to verify and identify such as giftors.

Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Meet our debt recovery Partners