Our team of debt recovery lawyers combine the capabilities of a debt collection agency with the wide experience of our commercial legal team. We can help your business to recover debts cost-effectively, and by settling cases without the need for formal legal action.
We work with a variety of clients, including large organisations such as commercial businesses, insurers, government departments, LGAs (local authorities), utility companies and FCA regulated companies.
Our debt recovery lawyers can help your business with issues such as:
- Pre-legal collection including lettering and tracing company owners
- County court proceedings
- Mediation, negotiation and advocacy
- Payment agreements
- General debt recovery advice, including Pre-Action Protocols.
We do not generally accept one off instructions from clients for debt recovery of less than £50,000.00 or for undisputed debts.
We also do not normally act where insolvency proceedings are required but our Restructuring and Insolvency team may be able to assist you.
Our Legal Fees (For Disputed Debts Up To The Value Of £100,000)
Our pricing for recovering debts of up to £100,000 for commercial clients is set out below.
These fees are calculated by reference to our hourly rates which vary depending on the experience of the lawyer carrying out the work.
Rates are subject to an annual review which may result in increased rates. The seniority of the members of staff dealing with your case will depend on its complexity. We will discuss this with you when you instruct us.
For a standard case, where the debt value is between £50,000 - £100,000, we would expect our fees (excluding disbursements) for all of the key stages identified below to be in the range of £60,000 to £100,000.
Please note that fees referred to exclude VAT. VAT is chargeable on our fees at 20%.
Our prices are intended to give you an indication of the costs of your case but every case is different and your actual costs will depend on the facts of your case and the debtor’s actions. You should bear in mind that the costs of recovering a disputed debt of up to £100,000 to trial may be disproportionate and may exceed the value of the debt. If you instruct us on an hourly rate basis we will provide you with a cost estimate at the outset of your case and will keep you updated on your costs over the course of your case.
You should also be aware that Fixed Recoverable Costs are likely to apply to a disputed debt between £25,000 and £100,000. This means that you will be very unlikely to recover all of your costs from your opponent even if you win, and (depending on the terms of our contract with you) you may still need to pay us the shortfall.
Alternative Ways To Fund Your Debt Recovery Claim
We will always discuss all available funding options to find the right approach for your case. Firstly, we will check whether you have Legal Expenses Insurance which may cover your legal costs.
Using our IM Assurance risk management tool, we may be able to offer you a range of alternative funding options. Before we can confirm if we can offer you alternative funding we will usually need to undertake an initial assessment of the merits of your case. We will carry out this initial assessment for a fixed fee, which we will agree with you beforehand based on the volume of documents and legal issues involved in your case. Typically our fee for a merits assessment will be £5,000 to £15,000 and carried out during a four to six week period.
Learn more about IM Assurance.
Factors That Could Make A Case More Complicated And Increase Our Legal Fees
- The volume of documents related to your case
- The number of parties involved in your case
- The required timescale for progressing your case
- A significant number of witnesses
- Complex legal issues
- The number of applications required during the course of your case. For example disclosure applications or security for costs applications
- The location of the debtor.
Disbursements
Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable by you to third parties. We handle the payment of disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.
The following disbursements may apply to your case:
- Court fees (no VAT is chargeable). For example, the Court issue fee for claims of £10,000 - £200,000 is 5% of the value of the claim. There may be other Court fees including hearing fees. You can find full details of the Court’s fees on the .gov website
- Counsel’s fees (plus VAT at 20%): we would typically expect Counsel’s fees to be based on hourly rates between £200 and £500. The extent of Counsel’s involvement, and their total fee, will vary on a case by case basis
- Expert evidence (plus VAT at 20%): depending on your claim and the legal issues involved you may require expert evidence. We will confirm whether expert evidence is required once instructed
- Investigations to determine the debtor’s ability to pay the debt (plus VAT at 20%). The cost of investigations will vary on a case by case basis. We would typically expect costs to be less than £2,000
- Travel and accommodation: travel and accommodation costs will be incurred if we are required to work away from our usual office bases.
Key Stages
Our legal fees cover all of the work in relation to the key stages of a claim as set out below.
Every case is different and the length of time that your case takes will depend on the actions of the debtor, what stage of the process your case is resolved at and Court timetabling. The pre-action steps often take between 3-6 months to complete and if your case goes to trial then it could take around 18 to 24 months from the start of proceedings to resolve your case:
- Considering the background information and the strategy with you
- Pre-action (sending a letter of claim, letter of response and other correspondence to try to settle the matter without the need to issue Court proceedings)
- Issuing your claim with the Court (including drafting relevant papers), considering the response from the defendant and preparing a reply
- Case management (this involves filing documents with the Court, complying with Court instructions and attending case management conferences, amongst other things)
- Alternative dispute resolution (this could include steps such as mediation)
- Disclosure (this is where parties are required to share documents relevant to the dispute with each other)
- Witness evidence
- Trial, if your claim needs to go this far.
What Is Not Included In Our Legal Fees
- Significant travel costs and accommodation (if required)
- Transcription services
- Costs recovery and enforcement action
- Advising or assisting in relation to any counterclaim or any appeal.
