Our fixed fees are shown below: -
| Stage | Fees excluding VAT* |
|---|---|
| To review initial documents, draft and issue our Letter of Claim | £250.00 |
| Preparation and issue of Court proceedings | £300.00 |
| Application to Court for Default Judgment | £60.00 |
VAT charged at 20%
Disbursements are expenses we pay on your behalf to others which may include court fees, experts’ fees, and barristers’ fees, which will be agreed with you in advance. If court proceedings need to be issued, the court fee payable will be dependent on the value of the debt owed as set out below.
If payment is not received in accordance with a judgement, we will provide you with advice on the next steps and the costs involved.
To give an accurate estimate of costs, we need to review matters and can see you for an initial consultation meeting. We offer a fixed price initial consultation at £250.00 + vat (£300.00 inclusive of vat) and at the meeting we can review matters fully, provide legal advice and guidance on the options available to you to resolve issues and reach a suitable solution as well as providing an estimate of any further costs and any disbursements fees that will be incurred.
Disbursements are expenses we pay on your behalf to others which may include court fees, experts’ fees, and barristers’ fees, which will be agreed with you in advance. If court proceedings need to be issued, the court fee payable will be dependent on the value of the debt owed as set out below.
If after the initial consultation further legal advice or issuing court proceedings is required, costs will be determined by the complexity of the legal and factual issues, the amount of documents involved, the time taken to carry out the work, and be dependent on who is dealing with it and their hourly rate.
Those hourly rates are:
Senior Solicitor/Legal Executive: £278.00 + vat (£333.60 inclusive of vat)
(over 8 years’ experience)
Solicitor/Legal Executive/Fee Earner: £233.00 + vat (£279.60 inclusive of vat)
Trainee Solicitor/Paralegal/Fee Earner: £134.00 + vat (£160.80 inclusive of vat)
(under 4 years’ experience)
VAT charged at 20%
The services that we would perform for you in relation to such matters include:
Once we have undertaken our initial review, we will provide you with an estimate of future cost and any expenses which we pay on your behalf to others which may include court fees, expert witness fees and barristers’ fees. The costs and expenses will be agreed with you in advance.
As a guide, our fees for reviewing your initial paperwork and preparing a letter of claim would be in the region of £500 – £900 plus VAT (£600 - £1080 incl vat) but this may vary depending on the afore-mentioned.
For debts up to £100,000, legal fees up to and including trial can range between £10,000 and £30,000 or more but we will always discuss the cost/ benefit analysis of such fees.
The Court Fees payable are set by the Ministry of Justice on a scale dependent of the value of your total claim as follows:
| Debt Value | Court fee |
|---|---|
| Up to £300 | £35 |
| £300.01 to £500 | £50 |
| £500.01 to £1,000 | £70 |
| £1,000.01 to £1,500 | £80 |
| £1,500.01 to £3,000 | £115 |
| £3,000.01 to £5,000 | £205 |
| £5,000.01 to £10,000 | £455 |
| £10,000.01 to £100,000 | 5% of the claim |
Anyone wishing to proceed with a claim should note that:
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.
Barristers’ fees, experts’ fees, process server fees and bailiff fees are all dependent on the nature of work they are instructed to undertake. Their fees and timescales are estimated on a case-by-case basis.
We will obtain estimates and seek your approval of their fees before we formally instruct on your behalf.
Debt recovery matters vary in their complexity, and it is difficult to estimate at the outset the time it will take, and the work involved in a matter. An undisputed invoice matter may be straightforward, and a settlement could be agreed within 4 weeks of your instruction, after just issuing an initial letter and entering settlement negotiations.
However, if your debt remains unpaid or disputed and court proceedings are issued with the matter continues as a fully contested to trial, then it may take up to 18-months to resolve as it will be dependent on the timescale of the Court in listing the matter for hearing.
If enforcement action is required on an unpaid judgement by default or a judgement after a trial, then matters may take longer to resolve.
Learn about our Debt Recovery Solicitors, Phillip Doyle and Jordan Shard under meet the team page here.