PRICING STRUCTURE

Pricing and Service Information: Debt Recovery for businesses

These costs apply when your claim is in relation to an unpaid invoice of no more than £100,000, which is not disputed and enforcement action is not required.

If the other party disputes your claim at any point, we will discuss any further work required and provide you with revised advice about costs if necessary, which could be on a fixed fee (eg. if a one off letter is required) or on an hourly rate basis if more extensive work is needed.

STAGE 1 – PRE-ACTION

The first stage of the recovery process is to send a letter before action to the debtor with a view to initiating contact and obtaining a negotiated settlement. Our fees for stage 1 are £250 + VAT, which includes:-

• Taking your instructions and reviewing documentation.
• Undertaking appropriate searches.
• Sending a letter before action.
• Chaser letter.
• Responding to rely to letter before action.
• Receiving payment and sending onto you.

These costs cannot usually be reclaimed from the debtor. We will include a claim for late payment interest and late payment collection costs under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 and the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2002 where applicable.

STAGE 2 – legal proceedings and obtaining default judgment – claims up to £100,000

If the debt is not paid and it is necessary to commence legal proceedings, we will charge the fees and disbursements set out below.

Fixed Fees

We will charge the following fees for drafting and issuing a claim and applying for default judgment if there is no acknowledgement of service or defence received:

• A fixed fee for issue of proceedings of £300
• A fixed fee for judgment in default of £30

VAT is chargeable on the above fees. There are limits on the amount of costs that you can recover from the debtor, which may be less than our fees. You may not be able to recover our fees from the debtor.

Small Claims Track – claims less than £10,000

If the claim is disputed and the value of the claim is less than £10,000, the following fixed fees will apply:

VAT is chargeable on the above fees. There are limits on the amount of costs that you can recover from the debtor, which may be less than our fees. You may not be able to recover our fees from the debtor.

Fast-Track and Multi-track claims – claims more than £10,000

If the claim is disputed and the value of the claim is more than £10,000, we will discuss the further work required and provide you with advice about costs, which could either be on a fixed fee basis or on an hourly rate. Our standard hourly rates are:

Disbursements – Court Fees

The following Court fees are applicable depending on the value of your claim. Interest and compensation may take the debt into a higher banding, with a higher court fee.

Regardless of the value of the claim, if your claim is allocated to the Fast Track, the applicable hearing fee is £545. If your claim is allocated to the Multi Track, the applicable hearing fee is £1,175.

During the course of your claim, it may be necessary to make apply to the Court for an order before the final hearing, which is known as an interim application. There is a fee payable to the Court when an application is made (£275 if the application requires a court hearing and £108 if the application is made with the consent of the other party or there is no need for a court hearing). We will discuss the further work required and provide you with advice about additional costs and disbursements.  

Disbursements – other

In addition to the Court disbursements listed above, we may also charge you disbursements in accordance with our standard terms of business. These include (but are not limited to) printing, photocopying, agents’ fees, bank charges and Counsel’s fees (which we will notify you of in advance).

All figures are exclusive of VAT. There are limits on the amount of costs that you can recover from the debtor, which may be less than our fees and disbursements. You may not be able to recover all of the disbursements from the debtor.

STAGE 3 – Enforcement

In the event a judgment is obtained and the debtor does not make payment, then it may be necessary to enforce the judgment. There are various methods of enforcement which we will discuss with you and provide you with advice about costs, which could either be on a fixed fee basis or on an hourly rate.

The following fixed fees will apply to commencing bankruptcy or winding up proceedings:

In addition to the disbursements listed above, we may also charge Counsel’s fees, which we will notify you of in advance.

All figures are exclusive of VAT. There are limits on the amount of costs that you can recover from the debtor, which may be less than our fees and disbursements.