Debt Recovery (Up to £50,000) - Our fees & services

Debt Recovery Undisputed.

This work is undertaken by our debt recovery team as set out to the right of this screen

All debt recovery team members are supervised by Shelia Valand who is a solicitor with over 10 years’ experience.

These costs apply where your claim is in relation to an unpaid invoice which is not disputed. 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.

Fixed Fees

STAGE 1 – LETTERS BEFORE ACTION AND LATE PAYMENT DEMANDS

Our fee to consider your paperwork and send a Pre-Action Letter which formally demands payment from the person who owes you money (the ‘debtor’). This is the first step for any debt recovery process before starting court proceedings.

In a straightforward case, where your paperwork is in good order, our fees for preparing the Letter Before Action or demand are likely to be in the region of £250 + VAT (at 20% £50.00) Total £300.00. If the matter is complex additional fees will be charged.

This stage normally takes 45 days depending upon the nature of the debt.

STAGE 2 – COURT PROCEEDINGS

If the debt is not settled following a Letter Before Action, the Court proceedings will need to be issued.

Our Standard Fees for drafting and issuing proceedings are:

Debt Value	Court Fee	Our Fee (Plus VAT at 20%)	Total
Up to £5000	£35.00 to £205.00	£600.00	£635.00 plus vat at 20% (£120) Total £755.00 to £805.00 plus vat at 20% (£120.00) Total £925.00
£5001 - £10,000	£455.00	£1500.00	£1955.00 plus vat at 20% (£300.00) Total £2255.00
£10,001 - £50,000	5% value of the claim	£2000.00	£2500 plus vat at 20% (£500) Total £3000.00 plus 5% of value of claim to £4500 plus vat at 20% (£900) Total £5400 plus 5% of value of claim

For an exact court fee please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fees-in-the-civil-and-family-courts-main-fees-ex50. Please note Court Fees do not have VAT.

Where it is necessary to commence Court proceedings, you are entitled to claim the Court fee that you have to pay to issue a claim and “fixed costs”, which are identified within Part 45 of the Civil Procedure Rules, from the debtor. The Court fee and “fixed costs” will form part of the total sum that you would be looking to recover from the debtor in the event that your claim is successful, and the debtor has the ability to pay the sums due under the County Court Judgment.

We will require payment of the court issue fee for your claim at the time that the claim is issued. We would also set out that our fees set out above are payable by you irrespective of the sums that are recovered from the debtor as part of the sum due under the judgment.

This stage will take between 42-56 days depending on the nature of the debt.

STAGE 3- JUDGMENT

If the Debtor does not respond, then we can apply to the Court to ‘obtain Judgment’ for you. This means you would have a court order which you can enforce to reclaim your money because the claim was not responded to. There is no Court fee payable to enter a Default Judgment in the absence of a Defence being lodged by the debtor.

Our fees for entering judgment in default are £50.00 plus VAT at 20% (£10.00) Total £60.00.

On entering judgment in the absence of a Defence having been lodged by the opponent, you can claim the “fixed costs on entry of judgment” set out in Part 45 of the Civil Procedure Rules. The sums stated will also form part of the sum that will be claimed against the debtor under the judgment from the Court.

This stage normally takes 7 – 14 days depending upon the nature of the debt.

If enforcement action is needed, the matter will take longer to resolve and additional fees will be applicable. This will be discussed with you at a later stage.

Some cases may be more complicated and require us to charge on a different basis and may take longer than usual. Contact us for a quote tailored to your circumstances.

Claims over £50,000, Defended Claims and more complex cases

If the value of your claim is over £50,000 or a debtor submits a defence to your claim or the case is otherwise more complicated, we will normally charge you an hourly rate for the time which we spend on your case. The hourly rate applicable is:

Sheila Valand £255.00 per hour (plus vat at 20% (£51) (Total £306)

Timescales for defended and more complex cases vary. Sometimes matters can be resolved within a matter of weeks but others can take several months.