Our debt recovery team has a wide breadth of experience in delivering first class work in all areas of debt recovery.
Key Stages for Undisputed and Disputes Matters
An outline of our work includes the following areas:
- Reviewing initial papers and, if necessary, meeting with you to take detailed instructions.
- Sending a Letter before Action to the debtor.
- Attempting to liaise with and recover debt from debtor.
- Advising you and issuing court proceedings or alternative proceedings (e.g. statutory demands).
- Considering response to proceedings and complying with court timetable to obtain a court outcome or negotiated settlement.
- Advising on and commencing enforcement of judgment or order.
Likely timescales (where court proceedings are necessary)
- A Letter before Action will usually be issued at the outset, giving the debtor 7 days to make payment. If the debtor is a sole trader/consumer, they must 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 in accordance with the Practice Direction – Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols. The debtor will have 14 days to respond to an issued claim or, if an acknowledgement of service is filed, a total of 28 days to file details of their defence. Otherwise, we will seek judgment by default or admission and enforce it. Alternative Dispute Resolution will be considered as an alternative.
- If the claim is defended and it is for under £10,000, it is likely to be allocated to the Small Claims track and will probably be heard in around 6 to 8 months.
- If a claim for more than £10,000 is defended, more detailed court proceedings will follow and it will be months before the matter comes to trial.
- The timescale for enforcement will depend on the case itself, how the court deals with the case and the enforcement method used.
Insolvency proceedings
- Where there is no defence to a claim, it is appropriate to consider bankruptcy or winding-up proceedings. We will tell you if we think this is more appropriate than court proceedings.
- In the case of an individual, it is necessary to serve a statutory demand on the debtor after which he or she has 18 days to pay the debt or apply to set aside the statutory demand. If he or she fails to do so, we can issue a bankruptcy petition which is usually heard within about 12 to 18 weeks.
- In the case of a company, we will serve a formal statutory demand requiring payment of the debt immediately or within a time frame to be agreed with you. If payment is not made within that timeframe, and the company does not raise a dispute in relation to the claim, we will issue a winding-up petition which is usually heard within about 12 to 18 weeks.
Fixed fees (undefended claims only)
Court Fee / Disbursement | Our Fee | |
Pre-action Protocol Letter before Action (Business/Individual) Including: relevant contract and/or terms review, preparation of Pre-Action Protocol Letter of Claim and interest calculation (if applicable) | £500-£1,000 | |
Subsequent Letter to Debtor | | |
Monthly administration fee for monitoring and chasing instalments | £25 to £50 | |
Issue of Claim Form (County Court) Claim Value: Up to £300 £300.01 to £500 £500.01 to £1,000 £1,000.01 to £1,500 £1,500.01 to £3,000 £3,000.01 to £5,000 £5,000.01 to £10,000 £10,000.01 to £200,000 Exceeds £200,000 |
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Obtaining Judgment | £75 £100 | |
Monthly Administration Fee (Post Judgment) for collecting/monitoring instalments | £25 – £50 | |
Enforcement | £110 | £100 £100 £100 |
General | £100 £100 £3-6 | £250 £250 £50 |
Charging Order | £100 £100 £20 (£300) | £180 £1000 |
Statutory Demands | £25 – £150 | £360 |
Bankruptcy/Winding up Proceedings | £1270* £1890* £125 – £150 £10 – £30 TBA £300 – £500 £750 £750 | £1500 TBA |
The above fees exclude VAT where applicable. Vat is charged at 20%.
Range of costs for disputed cases up to £100,000
If it is a straight disputed debt (only facts in dispute are whether or not the debt is owed) then costs range from £20,000 – £40,000 + VAT (including Court fee and Counsel’s fees).
Further Information
Please enquire as to our charges for carrying out work outside the above scales or for those marked TBA. Any work that we are asked to carry out in addition to the above will be charged at the appropriate hourly rate of the team member carrying out the work (see below). Our standard Terms of Business apply to all work undertaken.
It is important to note that we cannot enforce the right to recover recovery costs and interest unless you have the necessary clauses in your terms of business, or pursuant to the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2013 or unless there is an allowance under the Civil Procedure Rules.
Additional charges may be incurred by High Court enforcement agents should enforcement of any judgment or order be unsuccessful, or their instruction be unreasonably withdrawn. High Court enforcement agents will attempt to recover their fees from the debtor.
The fixed fees above relate to undefended claims. If your claim becomes defended at any time, fees will be charged at the appropriate hourly rate of the team member carrying out the work (see below).
How much our fees will be for dealing with defended claims will depend upon a number of factors, including the value and the complexity of the claim. We will be able to provide you with a cost estimate for dealing with a defended claim (based on our hourly rates) once we have taken initial instructions from you.
During a matter, it is possible that we may need to revise our cost estimate, up or down. This may be due to a change in your instructions, or because it is necessary to reassess the level of complexity of the matter in the event, for example, that new information comes to light or circumstances change. Should this be the case, we will discuss this with you at the time, and agree any changes before progressing.
Standard hourly rates (exclusive of VAT)
Managing Director – £ insert
Senior Solicitor – £ insert
Junior Solicitor – £ insert
Paralegal/Trainee – £ insert
Contact Us Today
For a free initial discussion about your individual circumstances, please contact us below.
To speak to our Commercial Property team, please call us on 029 2048 2444 or email us at info@mandmsolicitors.co.uk.
We can assist wherever you are based and have offices in Cardiff.