Debt Recovery Pricing

(First published 6th December 2018. Updated 6th February 2023)

Thank you for looking at our debt recovery services. Debts can arise in all walks of life and we regularly advise and assist businesses and individuals alike.

The bulk of our debt recovery instructions involve businesses, across a wide range of sectors. With many years of experience and strong expertise in litigation, both in and out of court, our debt recovery service is fast, efficient and economical.

Why Us

We have an experienced team who can assist you with recovering both disputed and undisputed debts.   This page covers our general pricing for undisputed debt recovery. Please get in touch to find out more about our fees for pursuing disputed debts.  

We pride ourselves on our exceptional customer care skills, enabling you to send out the right message and retain the goodwill of your customers (if required), whilst recovering outstanding payments.

We can offer you clear, practical advice and will discuss all of the options available to establish the most appropriate way of dealing with debtors.  We can ensure that you recover undisputed debts quickly and cost-effectively, with transparent fees.

We are proud to hold Lexcel Accreditation, issued by the Law Society. This involves the firm undergoing a rigorous audit process which ensures we maintain high levels of client care.

Pricing

We appreciate that the fees involved in debt recovery are important to you. We review our fees on a regular basis, considering client’s feedback, to ensure that we continue to offer a cost-effective debt recovery service.

We often work on an agreed and normally fixed fee basis in respect of the work required, so that from the outset you know what the fees will be for your transaction.   

Whilst every matter will be individually assessed, a typical range of costs for debt recovery matters is as follows. It should be noted that the exact costs may differ in respect of matters of a more complex nature.

1. Taking your initial instructions and reviewing the primary documentation relevant to your debt. Costs range between £300 plus £60 VAT to £500 plus £100 VAT.
2. Preparing a formal Letter Before Claim, compliant with the relevant Pre-Action Protocol.   Any Letter Before Claim prepared by this Firm will be drafted on a bespoke basis for your individual claim, to ensure that this specifically addresses the distinct issues and facts of your matter.  Costs range between £400 plus £80 VAT to £500 plus £100 VAT.
3. Drafting and issuing formal Court proceedings, to include the drafting of all the necessary documentation including the Claim Form and Particulars of Claim.   Costs range between £450 plus £90 VAT to £900 plus £180 VAT.  In addition to these costs a Court issue fee will be payable (as explained below).
4. Formally applying to the Court to secure Default Judgement, where the debtor fails to file their Acknowledgement of Service or Defence. Costs range between £250 plus £50 VAT to £350 plus £70 VAT.

Our fees are calculated on the basis of the exact time spent on the work involved, based upon our prescribed hourly charging rates. Our hourly charging rates range from £150 plus £30 VAT per hour for Trainee Solicitors to £295 plus £59 VAT for Partners.

If during the debt recovery process, the matter becomes disputed or enforcement action is required following successful recovery, we will discuss the applicable costs with you and agree the way forward. The above fees are based upon undisputed debts and where the claim becomes disputed or enforcement action is needed, we will discuss the further costs with you.

When claiming costs from the debtor, it is important know there are certain limitations on the recovery of costs and we will advise you on the relevant position applicable to your individual circumstances.   

If it becomes necessary to issue formal Court proceedings, you will also be required to pay various Court fees to pursue such a claim.  These Court fees are structured based on the value of your claim, for example the current Court fee if the value of your claim is worth between £1,500 to £3,000 is £115, whereas if your claim is worth over £10,000 then the Court fee payable is a sum equal to 5% of the overall value of the claim.   We will always advise on the applicable Court fees at the relevant time.

If you are successful if respect of your claim, then you are typically entitled to recover these costs from the debtor, subject to the applicable Court rules.

Exclusions

Our fees are ordinarily fixed and we also provide specific advice on any additional Court fees or other disbursements involved in the recovery of your debt. 

There may be factors which could increase the cost of the fees, but we will advise you of these, as and when they arise. Where there is likely to be any additional cost, we will make sure you are informed of this at the earliest opportunity and a clear estimate of those extra costs will be provided.

Time Scales

As you will appreciate every debt recovery matter is different, from instruction through to payment from the debtor.  We will always keep you informed on the relevant timescales. 

The workload and timetable of the Court will often dictate how quickly Judgement can be secured on an undisputed debt. However, if a claim is not disputed the average period between submitting the claim to the Court and obtaining Judgement in Default is around 7 to 8 weeks.

Key Milestones

With any recovery there are key milestones, which may vary according to individual circumstances. We aim to structure our fees around these key milestones, so that the costs are suitably managed.