Debt Recovery (up to £100,000.00)
These costs apply where your claim is in relation to an unpaid invoice up to the value of £100,000.00, which is not disputed, is not complex, and where enforcement action is not needed. 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 (e.g. if a one off letter is required), or an hourly rate if more extensive work is needed.
Our fees for debt recovery matters are typically charged on an hourly basis in line with the following hourly rates:
Grade of Fee Earner
Hourly
A
Solicitors, Directors, Legal executives, Barristers, or other fee earners with over eight years post qualification experience including at least eight years litigation experience.
£450 per hour
B
Solicitors, Legal executives, Barristers, or other fee earners with over four years post qualification experience including at least four years litigation experience.
£350 per hour
C
Other Solicitors, Legal executives, Barristers, or other fee earners of equivalent experience.
£275 per hour
D
Trainee solicitors, Paralegals, Barristers, and other fee earners.
£165 per hour
VAT is charged at 20%.
Value of the debt is up to £10,000.00:
i) The Court fee for the claim if issued on paper will be up to £455.00. If the claim is filed online, the court fee will be up to £410.00. The exact court fee payable will depend on the value of the claim. A list of court fees payable for issuing a money claim can be found via the following link:
It should be noted that court fees are updated/increased from time to time.
ii) Our fees will be between £2,500.00 to £7,500.00 plus VAT.
It should be noted that money claims up to the value of £10,000.00 will normally be allocated to the small claims track where, as a general rule, legal costs (save for court fees) are not recoverable from the opposing party.
Value of the debt is between £10,001.00 to £100,000.00:
- The Court fee for the claim if issued on paper will be 5% of the value of the claim. If issued online the fee is 4.5% of the value of the claim.
- Our fees would be in the region of £3,500.00 to £15,000.00 plus VAT.
Anyone wishing to proceed with a claim should note that:
- The VAT element of our fee cannot be reclaimed from your debtor.
- Interest and compensation may take the debt into a higher banding, with a higher cost.
- The costs quoted above are not for matters where enforcement action, such as a bailiff, is needed to collect your debt.
Our fees include:
- Taking your instructions and reviewing documentation;
- Undertaking appropriate searches;
- Sending a letter before action;
- Receiving payment and sending onto you, or if the debt is not paid, drafting and issuing claim;
- Where no Acknowledgment of Service or Defence is received, applying to the court to enter Judgement in default;
- When Judgement in default in received, write to the other side to request payment;
- If payment is not received within 28 days, providing you with advice on next steps and likely costs.
Disbursements:
Our fees quoted above do not include disbursements. These are costs related to your matter that are payable to a third party such as counsel’s fees for advising and/or drafting pleadings. Should it become necessary to instruct counsel on your matter or make payments to any other third party, such as an expert or to the Land Registry, we will advise you accordingly.
How long it takes:
Matters usually take between 3 to 12 months from receipt of instructions from you to receipt of payment from the other side, depending on whether or not it is necessary to issue a claim. This is on the basis that the other side pays promptly on receipt of Judgement in default. If enforcement action is needed, the matter will take longer to resolve.
If the claim is defended:
Should the matter be defended then we will be happy to discuss the matter further with you and provide you with an estimate of the likely costs.
Our Team:
Our debt recovery team is made up of directors, qualified solicitors (with at least four years’ experience), paralegals and barristers. The team is supervised by Manpreet Lalli who is highly experienced in working in debt recovery and qualified as a solicitor in 2016. The team also includes other directors such as Mohammed Asghar who qualified as a solicitor in 1993 and is vastly experienced in debt recovery matters.
