Debt Recovery Pricing

Debts can arise in all walks of life, and we regularly advise and assist businesses and individuals alike.

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 pricing for undisputed debt recovery – please get in touch to find out more about our fee structure for pursuing disputed debts.

We can offer you clear, practical advice. We have tried and tested processes in place to ensure we can recover undisputed debts quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively, with transparent fees.

We maintain the LawNet ISO9001 quality assurance standard which is regularly audited by an independent certifying body. This involves the firm undergoing a rigorous audit process which ensures we maintain high levels of client care.

Our Fees

We provide a range of fees for each type of debt recovery service.

Letter Before Action
Court Proceedings
Statutory Demands
Winding Up Petition/Bankruptcy Petition

If a junior lawyer deals with the case, the fees will generally be at the lower end of the range. We will endeavour where possible to allocate a junior lawyer, but sometimes this may not be possible. Where a more senior lawyer deals with the case, the fees will be at the higher end of the range.

Hourly rates which will apply are;

Partners - £335 plus VAT (£402)
Litigation Support Assistant - £200 plus VAT (£240) 
 

Letter Before Action

Our fee for a letter before action to recover a debt which is not disputed, where the debt is for no more than £100,000 and which is contained in no more than five invoices will range from £350 to £670 plus VAT (£420 – £804). Our fee includes;

• Taking your instructions
• Calculating interest (and compensation if appropriate) that might be payable in relation to the debt.
• Sending the letter before action by first class post or email if appropriate
• Forwarding to you any response we receive to the letter before action
• If payment is made to this firm, accounting to you for any payment we receive (subject to an additional fee for bank charges below).

Our fee is on the basis that the information we need from you is provided in a clear to understand format, with copy invoices being provided and a statement of account being provided where there is more than one invoice outstanding or you have received a part payment. If the information you provide is unclear so that we have to take additional instructions from you to understand the information which has been provided, then this could increase the fee.

If the debt consists of more than five invoices, our fee will depend on how many invoices are outstanding as the work that needs to be done in calculating interest (and compensation if appropriate) will vary subject to the number of invoices which are outstanding and any part payments which may have been made. 

Our fee does not include providing advice in relation to any response which is received.

If your debt consists of more than five invoices or is for more than £100,000 or the debtor is outside England and Wales, please speak with a member of the team.

Court Proceedings

If a debtor ignores a letter before action the most likely next step would be to issue court proceedings.

The costs set out below only apply where your claim is in relation to an unpaid invoice (s) and where the debt is for no more than £100,000, which is contained in no more than five invoices and where the debtor is not outside England and Wales. The costs only apply in relation to claims which are not disputed and where enforcement action is not required. If the other party disputes your claim at any point, then we will need to discuss fees with you as the fees set out below will no longer be relevant.

Our fee will range from £800 to £2,345 plus VAT (£960 - £2,814), and there are disbursements payable. See below in relation to those disbursements.

Our fees include:

• Taking your instructions
• Reviewing the invoices and the statement of account you provide
• If the other party is a company or Limited Liability Partnership, checking Companies House records to ensure the company or LLP is still trading and checking records to see whether a winding-up petition has been presented
• Calculating interest which might be payable and any compensation if appropriate
• Preparing a claim form and particulars of claim using our standard draft for debt recovery cases
• Arranging for the claim to be issued with the court
• Where no acknowledgement of service is received or defence filed and served, applying to the court to enter a judgment in default
• Once the judgment in default is received, sending that to the other party and demanding payment
• If payment is made to this firm, accounting to you for any payment we receive (subject to an additional fee for bank charges as set out below)
• Updating you (by email) when the claim has been issued, when we apply for judgment in default, when the judgment in default is received and when any payment is received.

Our fee is on the basis that the information we need from you is provided in a clear to understand format, with copy invoices being provided and a statement of the account being provided where there is more than one invoice outstanding or you have received a part payment. If the information you provide is unclear so that we have to take additional instructions from you to understand the information which has been provided, then this could increase the fees you have to pay.

In addition, you will also be required to pay to the court a fee to issue the claim and the fee differs depending on the amount of the debt. Below are the court fees payable. Court fees are not subject to VAT.

It is important to note that interest and compensation (if appropriate) may take the debt into a higher bracket for the purposes of determining the court fee which is payable. We will confirm to you the court fee which is payable before the claim is issued.

Our fees do not include:

• Providing any advice to you should the debt become disputed at any point. If the debt becomes disputed, we will discuss fees with you
• Any work which you may instruct us to do in relation to the settlement of the debt for less than the sum which is due to you, including any without prejudice correspondence with the other party or their lawyers
• Any correspondence with the other party or their lawyers and with you in relation to when payment can be made, deferring payment or any correspondence or agreements in relation to accepting payment of the debt by instalments
• Taking instructions from you and providing advice on any enforcement action which might be needed if the other party does not pay the default judgement when obtained.

You should not assume that you will be able to recover all or part of the costs outlined above from the other party. Your lawyer will explain to you the extent to which costs may be recovered.

From our experience, cases generally take around 7 to 12 weeks from receipt of your instructions to obtaining a judgement in default. However it is important to note that that this timescale can be affected by delays in the court office.

Statutory Demands

A statutory demand is a preliminary step to insolvency and can be an effective debt recovery tool. It requires payment of the debt within 21 days of the service of the statutory demand, and if the debt is not paid, that is evidence that the debtor is unable to pay debts as they fall due and a petition may be issued.

A statutory demand can only be served on an individual if that individual owes £5,000 or more, and on a company if it owes more than £750.

Our fees for dealing with the preparation of a statutory demand (where there are no more than five outstanding invoices) and arranging for service of that demand will be £550 to £1,005 plus VAT (£660 - £1,206).

Our fees include:

• Taking your instructions
• Reviewing the invoices and the statement of account you provide
• If the other party is a company or Limited Liability Partnership, checking Companies House records to ensure the company or LLP is still trading and checking records to see whether a winding-up petition has been presented
• Calculating interest which might be payable and any compensation if appropriate
• Preparing the statutory demand
• Arranging for the statutory demand to be served
• If payment is made to this firm, accounting to you for any payment we receive
• Updating you (by email) when the statutory demand has been served and when any payment is received (subject to an additional fee for bank charges as set out below).

Generally, we recommend that the statutory demand is personally served by a process server. The agent’s fee for serving the statutory demand is estimated at £90-£140 plus VAT (£108 - £168). The fee will be at the higher end of the range is the demand needs to be served urgently. Sometimes the fee may be higher than the sum estimated here if service proves difficult.

Our fees do not include:

• Providing any advice to you should the debt become disputed at any point including any application made to set aside the demand or restrain presentation of the petition. If the debt becomes disputed, we will discuss fees with you
• Any work which you may instruct us to do in relation to the settlement of the debt for less than the sum which has been claimed, including any without prejudice correspondence with the other party or their lawyers
• Any correspondence with the other party or their lawyers and with you in relation to when payment can be made, deferring payment or any correspondence or agreements in relation to accepting payment of the debt by instalments.

From our experience, cases generally take around four weeks from receipt of your instructions to the date by which payment under the statutory demand should be made, assuming there are no difficulties with service of the statutory demand.

Winding Up Petition/Bankruptcy Petition

If the debtor fails to pay following service of a statutory demand and you decide to issue a petition, our fees for arranging issue and service of the petition and arranging for representation at the hearing are likely to be in the region of £2,000 to £3,500 plus VAT (£2,400 - £4,200). This is on the basis that a statutory demand has been served, that the petition is not being resisted and only one hearing is required.

Our fees include:

• Taking your instructions
• If the other party is a company or Limited Liability Partnership, checking Companies House records to ensure the company or LLP is still trading and checking records to see whether a winding-up petition has been presented
• If the other party is an individual, undertaking a search of the bankruptcy register maintained by the Land Charges Register
• Preparing the petition and supporting witness statement
• Arranging for the petition to be issued with the court
• Arranging for personal service of the petition by an agent
• Filing the certificate of service
• Advertising the petition in the London Gazette
• Instructing counsel to attend the hearing
• Preparing and filing a certificate of compliance for a winding-up petition or a certificate of continuing debt for a bankruptcy petition
• Preparing and filing list/notice of appearances
• If payment is made to this firm, accounting to you for any payment we receive (subject to an additional fee for bank charges as set out below)
• Updating you (by email) when the petition has been issued and on the outcome of the hearing.

Our fees do not include:

• Providing any advice to you should the debt become disputed at any point including any application to restrain advertisement of the petition. If the debt becomes disputed, we will discuss fees with you
• Any work which you may instruct us to do in relation to settlement of the debt for less than the sum which has been claimed, including any without prejudice correspondence with the other party or their lawyers
• Any correspondence with the other party or their lawyers and with you in relation to when payment can be made, deferring payment or any correspondence or agreements in relation to accepting payment of the debt by instalments

Also, you will also be required to pay to the court a fee to issue the petition, and other disbursements and expenses as set out below.

Disbursements and Expenses

• Search fees £3 for individuals or £10 for companies or LLPs (not subject to VAT).
• Court fee on the issue of the petition £332 (no VAT is charged).
• Official Receiver's deposit payable on issue of the petition £2,600 for a winding-up petition or £1,500 for a bankruptcy petition.
• Agent’s fee for serving the petition estimated at £90-£140 plus VAT (£108 -£168). The fee will be at the higher end of the range if the petition needs to be served urgently. Sometimes the fee may be higher than the sum estimated here if service proves difficult
• For winding up only, London Gazette advertising fee payable after issue of petition £87.30 plus VAT (£104.76).
• Counsel's fees for attending the hearing are generally no more than £500 plus VAT (calculated at 20%) depending on counsel used. We are very often able to secure counsel to attend at much lower rates.

Bank Charges

In all cases, if we do receive a payment from the other party and you would like us to transfer that to your bank account, there will be a bank transfer administration fee payable of £35 plus VAT (£42) or £100 plus VAT (£120) if the payment is to be made to a bank outside the UK. There is no charge if you prefer payment to be sent to you by cheque.