Debt Recovery Services For Businesses For Debts Up To A Value Of £100,000
We generally only offer debt recovery services to our established business clients and, as such, our services are tailored to meet our individual clients’ needs.
The following pricing information relates to our debt recovery service for businesses in relation to debts up to the value of £100,000.
PRE-ACTION CHARGES
If a one off debt recovery matter is required, we will charge an initial set up fee to be agreed with you, depending on the nature of the matter and the amount of the debt involved.
Wherever possible, work is undertaken on the basis of agreed fixed fees. Otherwise, our standard hourly rate will apply with our fees based on the time spent by the partners and staff dealing with your matter.
The fees and disbursements referred to here are our fees for undefended debts up to £100,000. We include details of current court fees and guidance in relation to other fees that may be incurred (and which will vary on a case by case basis), such as agents’ fee for attending a hearing.
Court fees and Land Registry fees are not currently subject to VAT. All other fees and disbursements are exclusive of VAT at the current rate (20%).
LETTERS BEFORE ACTION AND LATE PAYMENT DEMANDS
Our fee to consider your paperwork and send a Pre-Action Letter will depend on the extent of any documentation and the time taken to prepare the letter before action – including any correspondence or phone calls with you to clarify any issues. In a straightforward case, where your paperwork is in good order then our fees for preparing the letter before action or demand are likely to be in the region of £150 - £200 plus VAT.
ISSUE OF PROCEEDINGS
Generally, you can claim the Court fee that you have to pay to issue a claim and also certain “fixed costs” which are set out in Part 45 of the Civil Procedure Rules from the debtor. The Court fee and “fixed costs” will form part of the amount that you can recover from the debtor in the event that your claim is successful and the debtor has the means to settle the sums due under the judgment.
We will charge you for the issue fee for your claim at the time that the claim is issued.
Our fees and disbursements on issuing a claim form are set out in the table below, together with details of the “fixed costs on issue” that are recoverable from the debtor. Where our fee exceeds the “fixed costs on issue” that are recoverable from the debtor as part of the sum due under the judgment, the excess part of our fee is not recoverable from the debtor but will still be payable by you.
Amount Claimed | Our Fee (exc VAT) | Court Issue Fee (Recoverable) | Recoverable Fixed Costs |
£100.00 - £299.00 | £100.00 | £35.00 | £50.00 |
£300.00 - £499.00 | £120.00 | £50.00 | £50.00 |
£500.00 - £999.00 | £140.00 | £70.00 | £70.00 |
£1,000.00 - £1,499.00 | £175.00 | £80.00 | £80.00 |
£1,500.00 - £2,999.00 | £225.00 | £115.00 | £80.00 |
£3,000.00 - £4,999.00 | £325.00 | £205.00 | £80.00 |
£5,000.00 - £14,999.00 | £450.00 | £455.00 | £100.00 |
Exceeds £10,000.00 but does not exceed £200,000.00 | £650.00 | 5% of the value of the claim | £100.00 |
ENTERING JUDGMENT
There is no Court fee to enter Judgment.
Our fees for entering judgment in default are £75 plus VAT.
On entering judgment, you can claim the “fixed costs on entry of judgment” set out in part 45 of the Civil Procedure Rules and which will form part of the sum payable by the debtor under the judgment. The amount of recoverable “fixed cost on entry of judgment”” which you can claim will depend on the amount of the claim and stage at which judgment is entered as set out in the table below.
| Sum from £25.00 to £5,000.00 | Sum exceeding £5,000.00 |
Judgment following failure by debtor to file an acknowledgement of service | £22.00 | £30.00 |
Judgment entered in default action in default of defence | £25.00 | £35.00 |
Judgment entered on defendant’s admission and claimant’s acceptance as to mode of payment | £40.00 | £55.00 |
Judgment entered following admission and proposals rejected | £55.00 | £70.00 |
WORK COVERED BY OUR FEES
The fees set out above include:
- Considering your initial instructions
- Reviewing your paperwork and preparing a letter before action
- Dealing with any payments received and accounting to you for those payments
- Drafting and issuing a claim to be issued in the County Court
- Where no acknowledgement of service or defence is received, applying to the Court to enter judgment in default
- When judgment in default is obtained, writing to the debtor to request payment
ADDITIONAL WORK
We will charge you at our usual hourly rates for any work undertaken by us beyond the work detailed above. Such work would include, by way of example, defended claims, negotiations with the debtor in respect of the debt and time for payment and correspondence with you and/or the debtor regarding the debt or the documentation you have supplied in connection with the debt.
LIKELY TIMESCALE TO OBTAIN JUDGMENT IN DEFAULT
The likely timescale of the letter before action and/or letter of demand will usually be issued within 7 – 10 working days after we receive your instructions (unless we require further information from you in order to finalise the letter before action). The letter before action will usually require the debtor to make payment within 7 days where the debtor is a business or a partnership. If the letter is a sole trader/consumer, they will be given 30 days to respond to the letter before action.
In the event that payment is not made and/or acceptable payment proposal is received we will seek your instructions to issue Court proceedings. Once Court proceedings are issued the debtor would have 14 days to respond to the claim and, where an acknowledgement of service is filed, a total of 28 days to file details of the defence. If acknowledgement of service is not received with 14 days and/or a defence within 28 days then we can proceed to request judgment in default.
Usually, therefore, in an uncontested matter, it will usually take approximately 8 to 10 weeks from receipt of instructions to obtaining judgment in default. The actual timescale will depend on a variety of factors including the parties involved in the matter, the complexity of the claim, response from the debtor and the debtor’s ability to pay.
If the claim is defended and is for under £10,000 it is likely to be allocated to the small claims track where a final hearing can be expected within 3 – 6 months depending on the Court’s availability.
If a claim of more than £10,000 is defended, the Court process is more complicated and the process will take longer. The time scale for the proceedings will depend on a number of factors such as the complexity of the case, the need for expert evidence and the court’s availability. It could be many months before a final hearing.
The majority of matters are, however, concluded by way of an acceptable commercial arrangement agreed between the parties during the litigation process and before the date of any final hearing.
ENFORCEMENT OF A JUDGMENT
Where a judgment is obtained and the debtor does not pay, there are a number of ways in which you can seek to recover the debt.
You can ask the County Court Bailiff or, where the debt exceeds £600 a High Court Enforcement Officer (HCEO) to attempt to recover the debt.
Where either of these methods is used our fees and the court fees will be as set out in the following table:-
Method | Our Fee (exc. VAT) | Court Fee | Other Fees |
Warrant of Control issued through the County Court and enforced by the Bailiff. | £150.00 | £110.00 |
|
Issuing warrant of execution through the High Court to be enforced by the High Court Sheriff (HCEO). | £150.00 | £66.00 | The HCEO Fee in the event that the recovery is successful is recovered from the debtor. A Compliance Fee of £70 plus VAT is paid on instructing the HCEO and is not refundable if the recovery is not successful |
Renewing a warrant through either the County Court or High Court. | £75.00 | £33.00 |
|
There are also other methods in which you can seek to recover your debt and, in order to decide how best to do so, you may first wish to apply to have the debtor examined by a court officer to try and find out more about the debtors assets and liabilities.
Having a Debtor examined by the Court, and in the case of a company, one of its Officers. | £250.00 - £350.00 | £55.00 | Process Server’s fee (to be advised). |
Other enforcement methods include:-
Application for Third Party Debt Order. | £225.00 | £110.00 |
|
Application for a Charging Order. | £225.00 | £110.00 | £50.00 Agent’s fees |
Attachment of earnings. | £95.00 | £110.00 |
|
Statutory Demand. | £250.00 - £350.00 plus VAT (for preparation of the demand) |
| Process Server’s fee (to be advised) |
Preparation of a Winding up Petition against a company. | £1,500.00 - £2,000.00 plus VAT (for preparing the petition and preparation for one hearing) | £1,880.00 (made up of Court Fee of £280 and Official Receiver’s Deposit of £1600.00) | Process Server’s fees, Search Fee for Prior Petitions, Agent’s fees for service of the petition/preparation of Certificate of Service) and Advocate’s fees for attending hearing (to be advised) |
Bankruptcy Petition (individual) | £1,500.00 - £2,000.00 plus VAT (for preparing the petition and preparation for one hearing) | £1,540.00 | Process Server’s fees, Search Fee for Prior Petitions, Agent’s fees for service of the petition/preparation of Certificate of Service) and Advocate’s fees for attending hearing (to be advised) |
The fees in this table assume that the enforcement process is not contested by the debtor and, in relation to enforcement methods where a court hearing is required, that only one hearing is necessary. In the event that a hearing is adjourned or a further Hearing is required then additional fees will be payable.
Where the chosen enforcement method involves a court hearing, we will need to arrange for an agent or barrister to attend the hearing on your behalf. We will advise you of the fee for the agent or barrister in advance of the hearing. In respect of a short hearing, for example, a hearing to consider making a final charging order or a hearing of a bankruptcy petition, an agent’s fee for attending the hearing is likely to be in the region of £125 - £150 plus VAT. A barrister would be more expensive but is likely to be unnecessary for an unopposed hearing.
Other fees that might be incurred in connection with the enforcement of your judgment may include process server’s fees (for example to serve a statutory demand or a bankruptcy or winding up petition where such fees are likely to be in the region of £100 - £125 plus VAT), trace agents fees to locate a debtor (£35.00 – 50.00 plus VAT) or Land Registry fees to obtain office copy entries for the debtor’s property (£3 per property and/or plan) or to register an interim Charging Order (£50.00).
Once you have obtained judgment and when we are discussing enforcement options, we will confirm the fees and disbursements associated with relevant enforcement processes.
The timescale for enforcement will very much depend on the circumstances of the case and the chosen enforcement method.
SPW’S HOURLY RATES
Our hourly rates are set out in the table below.
Partner | £275.00 |
Senior Associate | £250.00 |
Solicitor | £175.00 |
Trainee Solicitor | £135.00 |
Paralegal | £110.00 |