Business clients: Debt recovery fees
Key stages
There are four main steps that we need to go through. Step 1 is to send the debtor a pre-action letter. If the matter is not settled and payment is not received, we then move to step 2, which consists of issuing court proceedings. At this point the debtor will receive a court form from the court demanding them to pay the debt together with interest and costs within 14 days.
Step 3 involves obtaining a County Court Judgment (CCJ) this is Court Order that confirms that the debtor is liable to pay your debt. As soon as the County Court Claim has expired, we can proceed to obtaining a CCJ. The CCJ is the judgment given by a judge at the County Court which enables you to take enforcement action against the debtor to recover the debt owed to you.
Step 4 is commencing enforcement action. Alternatively, in step 4, insolvency and or bankruptcy action can be taken against a debtor. As soon as we have obtained a County Court Judgment, we are then able to immediately 'enforce' the debt. There are a number of ways to enforce a debt such as an attachment of earnings orders or charging orders. However, the most common method is to instruct a Bailiff or High Court Enforcement Officer to visit the debtor's address and collect the debt or seize goods to the value of the debt.
We will advise you on the best method of enforcement depending on each individual circumstance.
Our professional fees are charged at an hourly rate of £300 plus VAT.
Note about VAT
Please note that wherever we indicate that VAT is payable, this will be at the standard rate from time to time, currently 20%.
1. Out of court negotiations
We usually advise to send first a pre-action letter to the defendant before starting Court proceedings and try to reach an out of court settlement. An estimation of our professional fees until and out of court settlement is agreed may vary between £500 and £2,000 plus VAT*.
Our estimation of fees does not include any disbursements we might incur on your behalf while negotiating an out of court settlement (i.e. translation of any documents, postal fees like sending a burofax, etc.).
*Please note that we cannot give you an anticipated number of hours for the work to be taken without knowing the particular circumstances of the case. Every out of court negotiation is likely to vary and thus, we will be in a better position to provide you with a more accurate estimation of our professional fees once we have more information about your specific case.
What services are included
The work will involve:
· Taking instructions from you, providing you advice given the particular circumstances of the case and reviewing relevant documentation for the case.
· Undertaking appropriate searches.
· Sending a pre-action letter to the defendant.
· Doing the follow up with the defendant by phone/email/letter.
· Any potential negotiations that may be necessary until and out of court is agreed.
· Receiving payment and sending it onto you.
We cannot guarantee how long out of Court negotiations may take until receiving payment. If the debtor does not pay the debt within a reasonable period of time we will advise you of the following steps to take and will give you a further estimation of our professional fees in order to issue legal proceedings before the corresponding Court.
2. Court proceedings
In case Court proceedings need to be issued in order to recover the debt, our professional fees may vary depending on the amount of the debt to be recovered, the type of debt to be recovered, whether a barrister needs to be instructed to represent you in Court, on the steps to be taken during Court proceedings.
Our estimation of fees depending on the amount of debt to be recovered are the following*:
- Debts up to £5,000: From £750 to £1,000 approximately.
- Debts between £5,000 and £25,000: From £1,000 to £3,750 approximately.
-Debts above £25,000: From £3,750 up to 15% of the amount to be recovered.
*Our estimation of fees does not include the barrister fees in cases where it needs to be instructed, the Court fee payable to Court to file a claim, and any additional disbursements we might incurred on your behalf during Court proceedings (i.e. translation of documents that might be filed before the Court, etc.).
- In certain cases, we might consider recovering the debt by sending a statutory demand to the defendant depending on who the debtor is, the type of debt to be recovered (whether it is a non-contested claim that has fallen due or not), the amount of debt to be recovered, and the particular circumstances of the case. In these cases, we will give you an estimation of our professional fees for the particular case.
- It might be the case that even with a judgement from the Court in your favor the debtor will not pay voluntarily. In these cases an enforcement action will be needed and we will provide you with a revised estimation of our professional fees.
* Please note that the estimation of fees quoted here are for debts to be recovered in the UK. In cases of Spanish debt, we will provide you with a different estimation of fees attending at the particularities of the case, which will vary depending on whether legal proceedings need to be issued before the Spanish Courts.
What services are included
The work will involve:
· Providing you advice at this stage of the procedure.
· Drafting and filing the claim before the corresponding Court.
· Reply to the Defence in case is received.
· Where no Acknowledgment of Service or Defence is received, applying to the court to enter Judgement in default.
· When Judgement in default is received, write to the other side to request payment.
· Step-by-step guidance during the process depending on the actions needed to be taken within it.
· If payment is not received within a reasonable period of time after a Court judgement is issued, providing you with advice on next steps and likely costs.
Please note as mentioned above that in any case this is only an estimation of our professional fees, which may vary attending at the particular circumstances of the case. We will be in a position to provide you with a more accurate estimate once we have more information about your specific case.
How long will it take?
We cannot guarantee how long Court proceedings will take. This will depend in many factors including what the debtor does. However, in a case that is undisputed and where we obtain Judgment in Default which the debtor pays promptly, then it can take between 10 to 15 weeks for the matter to be resolved from the point you instruct us. If the matter is disputed or enforcement action is required, it will take longer to resolve. Individual debtors may take longer than business debtors due to the longer pre action protocol period which we are required to follow.