Debt Collection
Debt collection for a business debt that is undisputed
Court claims
These costs apply where your claim is in relation to an unpaid invoice which is not disputed and 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.
For a fixed fee of £50 plus VAT, we will review the following documents and advise you if there is sufficient information to proceed against your debtor*:
- Contract between the parties;
- Email correspondence between the parties;
- Copies of outstanding invoices; and
We will also verify the full and correct name of the party to sue, their trading status, and the correct address for service.
If we believe that you have a valid claim, with your instruction, we will draft a Letter Before Action (“LBA”) to send to the debtor in compliance with the Civil Procedure Rules Pre- Action Protocols (“the CPR Pre-Action Protocols”).
In order that the LBA is compliant with the CPR Pre-Action Protocols, we ensure that sufficient information is provided to the debtor and give them 14 days to respond substantively to the LBA if they dispute the claim**.
Debtors who are individuals must be given 28 days to respond.
If the CPR Pre-Action Protocols are not complied with, a Judge may dismiss the claim. That would mean the process would need to be started afresh, wasting costs.
If you instruct us to send a LBA, the advice fee of £50 will be waived.
The fixed fee to send a Letter Before Action is £175 plus VAT.
*This does not constitute full advice on the merits of your claim, its purpose is to ensure you have sufficient documentation to support sending a LBA.
**If the LBA prompts correspondence from the debtor, responding to it is not included in our fixed fee. We will always provide you with a new fee estimate if you instruct us to respond to any correspondence received from the debtor.
The table below outlines the court fee, our fees and Default Judgment fees depending on the amount of the claim:
| Debt value | Court fee (issuing through Money Claims Online) | Our fee (excluding VAT) | Fee to enter into Default Judgment |
| Up to £300 | £35 | £175 | £22 |
| £300.01-£500 | £50 | £175 | £22 |
| £500.01-£1,000 | £70 | £175 | £22 |
| £1,000.01-£1,500 | £80 | £295 | £22 |
| £1,500.01-£3,000 | £115 | £295 | £22 |
| £3,000.01-£5,000 | £205 | £295 | £22 |
| £5,000.01-£10,000 | £455 | £495 | £30 |
| £10,000.01-£24,999
£25,000-£199,999 |
5% of the value of the claim
5% of the value of the claim |
£999
£2,495 |
£30
£30 |
| Over £200,000 | £10,000 | £4,950 | £30 |
Anyone wishing to proceed with a claim should note that:
- Court fees do not attract VAT.
- 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 the bailiff, is needed to collect your debt.
Our fee includes:
- Taking your instructions.
- Receiving a payment and sending onto you.
- Where no Acknowledgement of Service or Defence is received, applying to the court to enter into Default Judgment.
If payment is not made after Judgment has been received, we will provide you with advice on next steps and likely costs.
Matters usually take 2-12 weeks from receipt of instruction 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 Judgment in default. If enforcement action is needed, the matter will take longer to resolve.
The main solicitor conducting our debt recovery work is Lucy Tarrant (qualified in 1998).