We set out below the procedure and this firm’s charges that will apply should we act on your behalf to seek to recover a debt that is owed to you or your business. VAT will be charged at the current prevailing rate which at present is 20%.
If at any point your claim is defended by the opposing party then the fixed fee costs referred to below will not apply and we will provide you with an estimate of costs for continuing to act for you.
Our hourly rate ranges from £180.00 plus Vat to £240.00 plus Vat and is dependant upon the experience of the solicitor involved.
The stages of our debt recovery service is set out below:
Receiving instructions and sending a Letter of Claim
You will need to book an appointment to have an initial consultation we one of our Solicitors We charge £240.00 plus Vat for an initial consultation. At the consultation we will take your instructions. Thereafter we will prepare and send the debtor a Letter of Claim in compliance with the pre-action protocol. https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/protocol
The Letter of Claim will be sent to the debtor by post within seven days of our receiving instructions from you.
Our cost for completing the Letter of Claim is £300 plus VAT.
Dealing with the debtor’s response
The debtor will have a period of up to 30 days from receipt of the Letter of Claim to provide their response.
The debtor’s choice of response will be one of the following:-
(a) The debtor does not to reply and fails to make payment of the debt
We will inform you of the debtor’s failure to respond and you can decide whether you wish to instruct us to issue Court proceedings on your behalf. Should Court proceedings be successful, you will obtain a County Court Judgement in your favour which you can seek to enforce.
(b) The debtor agrees to the debt but wants to negotiate payment terms
We will send you the reply and take your instructions. We will prepare a letter of response either agreeing or rejecting the debtor’s proposals. Our cost for this will be £240.00 plus VAT. Are our hourly charge rate will apply on each occasion that you instruct us to respond to the debtor following our initial reply to the debtor.
(c) The debtor admits the debt and will pay
We will send you the reply and request that the debtor makes payment either directly to you or to this firm. Our fee to prepare this response is for this will be £240.00 plus VAT.
(d) The debtor disputes some or all of the debt
If the debt is disputed then we will take your instructions as to whether you wish to proceed to take further legal action concerning the debt or not. We will provide you with an estimate of costs for continuing to act for you and will be based on our hourly charge rate.
Drafting and issuing Court proceedings
The cost to issue Court proceedings will be dependent on the value of the claim. The table below sets out the costs to be incurred against the debt value.
In addition to our fees, you will be responsible for paying the applicable Court fee due on the issue. If successful, we would be entitled to seek to recover a limited set sum in respect of your legal costs, in addition to the payment of the court fee incurred.
Value of debt and interest | Our fees | Court fee | Set recoverable costs from the debtor |
Up to £300 | £400.00+ VAT | £35.00 | £50.00 |
£300.01-£500 | £400.00+ VAT | £50.00 | £50.00 |
£500.01-£1,000 | £400.00+ VAT | £70.00 | £70.00 |
£1,000.01-£1,500.00 | £400.00+ VAT | £80.00 | £80.00 |
£1,500.01-£3,000.00 | £400.00+ VAT | £115.00 | £80.00 |
£3,000.01-£5,000.00 | £400.00+ VAT | £205.00 | £80.00 |
£5,000.01-£10,000.00 | £400.00+ VAT | £455.00 | £100.00 |
£10,000.00-£100,000.00 | £750.00+ VAT | 5% of the value of the claim | £100.00 |
The Court will issue proceedings and send documentation to the debtor. The debtor will then have a period of 14 days from s receipt of court papers to respond. The debtor must either file an Acknowledgement of Service, a Defence or an Admission (Part Admission).
In the event that he does not file either a Defence or an Acknowledgement of Service, we will request that the Court enter a County Court Judgement against the debtor. Our fee on seeking Judgement following the defendant failing to acknowledge service is £100.00 plus VAT.
(a) The debtor files an Acknowledgement of Service
If the debtor files an Acknowledgement of Service within 14 days of receiving the claim, he will have 28 days from receipt of the claim to file and serve a Defence. If the defendant fails to file a defence within the requisite time frame we will request that the Court enter a County Court Judgement against the debtor. Our fee on seeking Judgement will be charged at our hourly charge rate.
(b) The debtor files a Defence
If a Defence is filed and served, we will inform you of this and provide you with an estimate of our costs for continuing to act on your behalf in relation to the disputed debt. Those costs will usually be calculated with reference to the hourly rate of the solicitor who is acting on your behalf in relation to the debt claimed.
(c) The debtor files an Admission or Part Admission
The debtor is entitled to file an Admission or Part Admission following his receipt of court proceedings. Should that occur, we will seek to obtain a County Court Judgement based on the Admission or Part Admission that the defendant has filed. Our fee on seeking Judgement following the defendant failing to acknowledge is set out below.
Debt + interest | Our fee | Recoverable legal costs |
Up to £5,000 | (1) £25.00 plus VAT on seeking judgment following the defendant failing to acknowledge service | £22.00 |
| (2) £30.00 plus VAT on seeking judgment following the defendant failing to file a defence | £25.00 |
Over £5,000 | (1) £35.00 plus VAT on seeking judgment following the defendant failing to acknowledge service | £30.00 |
| (2) £40.00 plus VAT on seeking judgment following the debtor failing to file a defence | £35.00 |
Your matter will depend on whether it becomes necessary to issue a claim. The debtor may pay promptly following a letter of claim or once judgement is obtained. If the debtor does not pay following judgement the need for enforcement action is required. Full details of the enforcement options available are outside the scope of this guide. We are happy to discuss these options with you with a costs estimate for proceedings based on our hourly charge rate.
The work will be undertaken by either Sami Sofi who is a solicitor with post qualification experience in this field of over 5 years or Adam Sofi who is also a solicitor and the principal of this firm with post qualification experience in this field of over 15 years.
Please Contact us on 020 8318 4345 to book an initial consultation or email us enquiries@as-solicitors.com