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Our services are tailored to individual clients through the use of the latest technology using our bespoke case management system.  We understand our clients’ businesses and processes and manage collections in a way that fits our clients’ individual debt profiles.

Our reporting capabilities are endless and our leading members are able to provide supporting services such as bespoke training and secondment support.

The following applies to businesses with a potential debt recovery requirement of up to the value of £100,000.

The general timescale

Court Proceedings

  • A Letter Before Claim will usually be issued at the outset, giving the debtor 7 days to make payment. If the debtor is a sole trader/consumer, they will be given 30 days to respond in line with the pre-action protocol for debt claims.
  • In the event that payment is not made and terms for settlement are not agreed, instructions will be sought to issue court proceedings. Debtors have 14 days to respond to the claim, or if an acknowledgement of service is filed, a total of 28 days to file details of their defence. Otherwise, we can seek judgment by default and enforce it.
  • If the claim is defended and it is for under £10,000, it is likely to be allocated to the Small Claims and will probably be heard in about 3 months.
  • If a claim for more than £10,000 is defended, more complex court proceedings are likely to follow and it could be some months before the matter comes to trial.
  • The timescale for enforcement will very much depend on the case itself, how the court deals with the case and the enforcement method that is chosen for the individual judgment.

Insolvency Proceedings

  • Where there is no arguable defence to a claim it is sometimes appropriate to consider bankruptcy or winding-up proceedings. We will advise our clients if we think this is a more appropriate action than regular court proceedings.
  • In the case of an individual, it is usually necessary to serve a statutory demand on the debtor after which he or she has 18 days to pay the debt or set aside the statutory demand. If he or she fails to do so, we can then issue a bankruptcy petition which is usually heard within about 6-12 weeks.
  • In the case of a company we will serve a formal demand requiring payment of the debt within a time frame agreed with our client. If payment if not made within that time we will issue a winding-up petition which is usually heard within about 6-12 weeks.

Funding Options

Claims can be funded in different ways and funding options will be considered carefully with clients.

You may hold legal expenses insurance.  Even if you do not have such insurance, you may be able to minimise your risk by obtaining further insurance against adverse costs orders which might be made in court proceedings.  This is sometimes called “After The Event” or “ATE” legal expenses insurance.

We may require money on account from clients before undertaking work.

Our ordinary rates are:

Status of lawyerLA’s ordinary rate £ (+VAT)
Partner and over 8 years’ experience£330.00-£350.00
Associate and Solicitors and Legal Executives with over 4 years’ experience£240.00-£290.00
Solicitors/CILEX£180.00-£200.00
Team Leaders / Paralegal£140.00
Trainee£140.00

Wherever possible, work is undertaken on agreed fixed fees and example costings for business-to-business debt collection are set out below.

Instruction Fee

Instruction charges may be dependent on the volume of referrals and work required. Where possible, the instruction charge will be fixed or calculated on a % basis and the fee will be agreed with our client at the outset.

Litigation Fees

Litigation charges can also be dependent on the volume of referrals received. Where possible, a fixed charge will be agreed. We always engage with our clients to find the fee structure that works for them, whether that be a fixed fee arrangement or a time-based approach.

Court Fees on issue of Claim Form

(Recoverable if successful)

SUM CLAIMED NO MORE THANCOURT FEES ON ISSUE OF CLAIM
Up to £300.00£35.00
£300.00 not over £500.00 £50.00
£500.00 not over £1,000.00 £70.00
£1,000.00 not over £1,500.00 £80.00
£1,500.00 not over £3,000.00 £115.00
£3,000.00 not over £5,000.00£205.00
£5,000.00 not over £10,000.00 £455.00
£10,000.00-£200,000.005% of the value of the claim
Over £200,000.00£10,000.00

Solicitors Fixed Costs on the Claim Form

(Recoverable if successful)

SUM CLAIMEDCOSTS
£25.00 – £500.00£50.00
£501.00 – £1,000.00£70.00
£1,001.00 – £5,000.00£80.00
£5,001.00 Plus£100.00

*** All Solicitors’ Fixed Costs on the Claim Form are subject to VAT ***

Solicitors Fixed Costs on Judgment

(Recoverable if successful)

Sum from £25.00 to £5,000.00Sum exceeding £5,000.00
Judgment entered in default action in default of Acknowledgement of Service£22.00£30.00
Judgement 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
Judgment in default of Defence£25.00£35.00

*** All Solicitors’ Fixed Costs on Judgment are subject to VAT ***

Enforcement Fees

(Recoverable from debtor unless otherwise stated)

ItemCosts
Charge per case enforcementFrom £100.00 + VAT (not recoverable)
Court Disbursement – fee Order to Attend Court for Questioning£59.00
Agents Service Fee (where required)£95.00 + VAT
Court disbursement – fee Attachment of Earnings Application£119.00
Court Disbursement – Warrant of Control£83.00 (recoverable) Court disbursement + £2.25 +VAT fixed costs (recoverable)
High Court Writ (HCEO)£71.00 Court Disbursement + £51.75 +VAT fixed costs (recoverable). Plus HCEO fee for abortive visit if negative return £75.00 + VAT (not recoverable)

Other enforcement – Charging Order

ItemCosts
Court Disbursement – fee for Charging Order£119.00
Fees for requesting office copies£20.00 + VAT (inc fee £3.00)
LR Notice/Restriction fee£20.00 + VAT
Advocate attendance fee (where required)£100.00 + VAT
Our chargesFrom £250.00 + VAT (of which £110.00 recoverable)

Bankruptcy

ItemCosts
Bankruptcy Search fee£2.00 + VAT
Our charges for preparing Statutory DemandFrom £200.00 + VAT
Service of Statutory Demand£95.00 + VAT (minimum)
Our charges for preparation of Petition (up to first hearing)From £750.00 + VAT
Court fee£302.00
Official Receiver’s Deposit (from 1 November 2022)£1500.00
Service Fee£95.00 + VAT (minimum)
Hearing attendance£100.00 + VAT (minimum)
Ad hoc / disputed insolvency mattersHourly rates + VAT

Winding Up

ItemCosts
Our charges for preparation of petition (up to first hearing)From £750.00 + VAT
Court Fee£302.00
Official Receiver’s Deposit  (from 1 November 2022)£2600.00 (£50.00 non-refundable)
Service Fee£95.00 + VAT (minimum)
Gazette Fee£119.15
Hearing attendance£100.00 + VAT (minimum)
Ad hoc/disputed insolvency mattersHourly rates + VAT

 

Defended

ItemCosts
Small ClaimsFrom £650.00 + VAT
Fast Track/Multi Track/CounterclaimsHourly rates + VAT
Application to Set Aside JudgmentFrom £350.00 + VAT
Agents Fees/Other Court DisbursementsAs advised

*** The current applicable rate of VAT is 20% ***

The Team

Please find below the main contacts within the team:

Ann Lloyd – Ann is a Partner, qualifying as a solicitor in 2004. In 2016 Ann was named in the Credit 100 most influential people in the industry.
Danielle Montezuma – Danielle is a Partner, having qualified as a solicitor in 2009.
Tim Brodie – Tim is an Associate Solicitor having qualified in 1999.
Helen Whittam – Helen is an Associate Solicitor having qualified in 2009.
James Woodhouse -James is a Solicitor having qualified in 2009.
Yessica Chadwick – Yessica is a Solicitor having qualified in 2019.
Jessica Marshall – Jess is a Team leader and Senior Paralegal and has worked in the industry for over 10 years.

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