Debt
Recovery
Costs
As a specialist debt recovery solicitor, we undertake a wide range of debt recovery work on a fixed fee for small and large businesses.
Our fixed debt recovery costs are for undisputed invoices where your clients do not pay your invoices and do not provide you with any reason for non-payment (other than that they simply don’t have the funds to pay). Our fees for such are:
Before Court Proceedings
Option 1
- 10%* plus VAT of the debt collected for undisputed invoices over £500.
Option 2
- Standard form Letter Before Action – fixed fee of £12.50 plus VAT.
- Further emails and letters sent and telephone calls (both made and received) in connection with your claim prior to the issue of proceedings – fixed fee of £12.50 plus VAT each.
Court Proceedings (undisputed invoices)
Our debt recovery charges up to the stage of default Judgment are set out below.
Court Fees are payable at each stage of the proceedings and these are in addition to our costs. We reserve the right to ask for the Court Fees to be paid to us in advance of our incurring the Fees with the Court.
Standard Fixed Costs from the issue of proceedings to Judgment (assuming no Defence is filed)
| Level of Claim | Our Charges | Fixed costs claimable from the debtor plus Court fees |
| £500-£1,000 | £125 plus VAT | £50 |
| £1,000-£5,000 | £225 plus VAT | £80 |
| £5,000-£10,000 | £325 plus VAT | £100 |
For claims over £10,000, legal debt recovery costs can usually be claimed from the debtor. For such invoices we usually provide a bespoke fixed fee subject to the number of invoices. This fixed fee is usually calculated by reference to the hourly rate of the Lawyer working on your case. Typically, for simple undisputed debt claims, our charges normally range from £250 to £750 plus VAT.
In addition to our charges for drafting the Claim Form and Particulars of Claim, you would also have to pay a Court fee which is normally 4.5% of the value of the claim if issued on the Money Claims Online website for claims over £10,000 and 5% of the value of the claim if issued on the County Court Money Claims Centre for claims over £10,000.
Should a claim become disputed/defended in whole or in part, the cost of any further debt recovery work required will be discussed with you and will, unless otherwise agreed, be based on our standard hourly rates, details of which will have been provided to you when you first instruct us.
Judgment
If the debtor does not respond to your claim in time, you can request that the court orders them to pay and enters judgment against them.
Our debt recovery costs of entering Judgment on your behalf are:
| Up to £5,000 | Over £5,000 | |
| By default | £45.00 plus VAT | £135.00 plus VAT |
| By admission | £65.00 plus VAT | £160.00 plus VAT |
Charges after Judgment
Once Judgment has been obtained against the Debtor there are various methods of enforcement that can be considered other than the High Court Enforcement Officer (HCEO). Our charges are as follows:-
| Order for Questioning | £175.00 |
| Warrant | £150.00 |
| High Court Enforcement Officer | £155.00 |
| Attachment of Earnings | £200.00 |
| Charging Order | £280.00 |
| Third Party Debt Order | £350.00 |
| Statutory Demand | £400-500 |
Personal Bankruptcy or winding up £1,000 + Process Server and Court Fees
All of the debt recovery costs above are plus VAT and disbursement. Disbursements are any third-party costs which you may have to pay as part of your claim. Normally these would be Court Fees, process server costs, Statutory Deposits, Affidavit Fees and Statutory Advertisement costs which are payable in insolvency cases.
Except in the case of the HCEO the above charges include all related correspondence with you and the Debtor unless alternative arrangements are agreed.
Pursuing court action
If the debtor decides to defend the claim, we will advise you of our estimate of our further debt recovery costs and any disbursement at that stage and the basis of our charging would be on our hourly charge rate. Our charges would depend on the nature of the defence and any complexity or unique feature that your claim may have.
For claims less than £10,000, it may be more cost-effective for you to represent yourself at Court, as it is likely that your claim would be allocated to the small claims track. Whilst there is nothing to prevent you from being represented by a solicitor in a small claim, the court rules will usually prevent you from recovering your legal costs from your opponent if you win a claim has been allocated to the small claims track.
If you are successful in your claim and obtain judgment, the debtor will usually have 14 days to pay you the sum ordered by the Court. If the debtor fails to make payment, we can advise you at that stage of the enforcement options available to you and the likely debt recovery cost of each option.
Talk to us...
If you need to recover an outstanding debt, and you’re looking for an experienced team to help you get it done, you’re in the right place – call us now on 0330 162 4393…
FAQ
How much does debt recovery cost?
The debt recovery cost will depend on the complexity of the case and the legal actions that will need to be taken in order to resolve it. Our fixed debt recovery fees cover all three possible stages:
- Pre-action
- Court Proceedings
- Enforcement of Judgment
What is the cost of a Letter Before Action?
We charge a fixed fee of £12.50 plus VAT for writing a Letter Before Action.
What debt recovery cost can I claim on late payments?
In addition to interest, you can also claim debt recovery costs from your commercial debtors at the following fixed rate:
- Up to £999.99- £40
- £1,000 to £9,999.99 -£70
- £10,000 or more – £100
Are there any additional debt recovery costs I should be aware of?
Yes, there are a number of fees and charges, called ‘disbursements’, that your solicitor will need to pay on your behalf when preparing for your case to go to court. Those include:
- Court fees
- Barrister’s fees
- Expert fees
We will discuss the cost of disbursements with you once we know more about the details of your case so you have a clear idea of what costs to expect.
Who pays the debt recovery costs?
Usually, the debtor will be liable for the debt recovery costs. However, for small debts (less than £10,000), the responsibility for paying the debt recovery charges will be yours regardless of the outcome of your case.