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Debt Recovery Prices
Our Charges
Our charges vary depending upon how complex your case is and what you would like us to do.
We set out below details of our typical charges.
Our charges are made up of:
- our costs for the legal work; and
- disbursements' - disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as fees for bailiffs.
Where VAT is referred to below please note that this will be charged at the rate that applies at the time that we provide our services, which is currently 20%.
Our Costs
Legal costs vary depending upon how much work we need to do to recover the debt. We therefore tend to charge costs for each stage of the recovery process and only charge clients for the parts they need:
1. Letter of Claim
A Letter of Claim is a letter which formally demands payment from the person who owes you money (the 'debtor'). The debtor could be an individual, firm or limited company. This is the first step for any debt recovery process before starting court proceedings. To issue the letter normally takes a maximum of 7 days provided you give us the right information and depending upon the nature or complexity of the debt.
This is charged at a fixed cost of £50 (plus VAT) for a single debt and includes:
- Undertaking appropriate searches
- Sending a Letter of Claim
- Receiving payment and sending it onto you, where applicable
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.
We will discount our costs for the collection of multiple debts which will be agreed on instruction.
2. Issue Court Proceedings
If the debt has not been paid following the Letter of Claim and you want to proceed further, we will draft and issue court proceedings on your behalf. Our charges for issuing a court claim are below subject to the number of cases placed:
| Debt Value |
Court Fees |
Fixed costs on issue (ex VAT) |
Total Recoverable |
| Up to £300.00 |
£35 |
£50 |
£95 |
| £300.01 - £500.00 |
£50 |
£50 |
£110 |
| £500.01 - £1,000.00 |
£70 |
£70 |
£154 |
| £1,000.01 - £1,500.00 |
£80 |
£80 |
£176 |
| £1,500.01 - £3,000.00 |
£115 |
£80 |
£211 |
| £3,000.01 - £5,000.00 |
£205 |
£80 |
£301 |
| £5,000.01 - £10,000.00 |
£455 |
£100 |
£575 |
On debts of £10,001 - £200,000 the Court Fee will be charged at 5% of the debt (original debt plus interest).
On debts above £200,000 (original debt plus interest) the Court Fee is £10,000.
Court fees do not have VAT.
This stage normally takes 7 - 14 days depending upon the nature of the debt.
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.
3. Enter Judgment
If there is no response to the claim, we may be able apply to the Court to obtain 'Default Judgment' This means you would have a County Court Judgment (CCJ) which you can enforce to reclaim your debt including interest and costs where applicable. Our charges for entering judgment are below subject to the number of cases placed:
| Fixed Costs on Entry of Judgment in a claim for the recovery of money |
Where the amount of the judgment exceeds £25 but does not exceed £5,000 |
Where the amount of the judgment exceeds £5,000 |
Total |
| Where judgment in default of an acknowledgment of service |
£22.00 (ex VAT) |
£30.00 (ex VAT) |
£36.00 |
| Where judgment in default of a defence is entered |
£30.00 (ex VAT) |
£35.00 (ex VAT) |
£42.00 |
| Where judgment is entered on admission, or judgment on admission of part of claim and claimant accepts the defendant's proposal as to the manner of payment |
£48.00 (ex VAT) |
£55.00 (ex VAT) |
£66.00 |
| Where judgment is entered on admission, or judgment on admission of part of claim and court decides the date or time of payment |
£66.00 (ex VAT) |
£70.00 (ex VAT) |
£84.00 |
This stage normally takes 14 - 28 days depending upon the nature of the debt. If we are successful in obtaining judgment for you but payment is still not received then we will advise you on the next steps at that time, such as enforcement action and what the likely costs would be (see below).
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.
4. Defended Claims and more complex cases
If 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 depends upon the experience of the fee earner handling the matter:
| Fee Earner |
Hourly Rate |
| Partner/ Director with 8 years post qualification experience ('PQE') |
£295 (plus VAT) |
| Solicitor with more than 4 years PQE |
£270 (plus VAT) |
Solicitor with less than 4 years PQE |
£225 (plus VAT) |
Trainee/Paralegal |
£145 (plus VAT) |
Timescales for defended and more complex cases are more difficult to predict and depend on the Court diary.
Contact us for more tailored guidance on your circumstances.
Disbursements
You will need to pay for 'disbursements' in addition to our costs as described above. In a debt recovery matter the most common disbursement is the Court fee and the fee scale is listed above. If we need to attend a Court hearing, then in most cases a barrister (also known as 'Counsel') is often instructed by us. Counsel's fees vary according to experience and the nature of the hearing. We will guide you on this as and when such disbursement needs to be incurred.
Other Charges to consider
The charges set out above do not include enforcement action such as for bailiffs to go out and collect the debt on your behalf but are available on request.
Key stages of your case
The costs described above cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages a debt recovery process:
- Discussing your case with you and, where appropriate, reviewing documents you provide.
- Performing relevant checks and searches.
- Sending a Letter of Claim (see above).
- Receiving payment and forwarding payment to you or, if a debt is not paid, drafting and issuing court proceedings.
- If no response is received, applying to the Court for Judgment in Default, subject to the additional costs for doing so (as detailed above) being paid.
- If payment is not received, providing you with guidance on the next steps and likely costs.
We would be very happy to provide you with a more tailored quote for all stages of your particular case once we know about your specific circumstances.
