Debt Recovery Pricing

Thank you for looking at our Debt Recovery services. Debts can arise in all walks of life and we regularly advise and assist businesses and individuals alike.

The bulk of our debt recovery instructions come from businesses across various sectors. With many years of experience and strong expertise in litigation both in and out of court, our debt recovery service is fast, efficient and economical.

Why choose Bright & Sons' debt recovery solicitors?

We have an experienced team who can assist you with recovering both disputed and undisputed debts. This page covers our pricing for undisputed debt recovery – please get in touch to find out more about our fee structure for pursuing disputed debts. We pride ourselves on exceptional customer care skills enabling you to send out the right message and retain the goodwill of your customers whilst recovering outstanding payments.

We can offer you clear, practical advice and will discuss all the options available to establish the most appropriate way of dealing with debtors. We have tried and tested processes in place to ensure we can recover undisputed debts quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively, with transparent fixed fees.

We are proud to hold Lexcel Accreditation, issued by the Law Society. This involves the firm undergoing a rigorous audit process which ensures we maintain high levels of client care.

Pricing

We appreciate that the fees involved in debt recovery are important to you. We review our fees on a regular basis, considering client’s feedback, to ensure we continue to offer a cost-effective debt recovery service.

We typically work on a fixed fee basis, so that from the outset you know what the fees will be for your claim. These costs apply for unpaid and undisputed payment of invoice(s). If during the debt recovery process, the matter becomes disputed or enforcement action is required (where you need to appoint a bailiff), we will discuss the change in fees with you and agree a way forward.

When claiming costs from the debtor, it is important to note that the VAT element of any fees cannot be claimed unless you are VAT registered. You can claim interest and compensation and we will advise you of the applicable rates.

Most undisputed debt recovery actions will consist of roughly 3 stages:

1. Initial contact with debtor and letter of claim. Having taken instructions from you we would write a full letter of claim to the debtor requesting payment within 14 days together with any interest due, and then consider any response received or payment plan proposed. Our fees for this step would be £130.00 + VAT*.
2. Issue of Court proceedings. If the debtor does not respond the next stage would be to issue proceedings in the Court based upon this, and if they still continue to ignore those proceedings to apply for judgement in default. The fee for this step would be £370.00 + VAT* plus the appropriate Court fee as set out in the table below from the Ministry of Justice.
3. If after obtaining a judgement the debtor still fails to pay then we can go to enforcement, which may be way of charging order, seizure of goods, attachment of earnings, or similar. The fee for these steps would be £130.00 + VAT* together with the appropriate Court fees for these types of application.

Please note that the above will not apply to any claim which is defended in Court or otherwise disputed.

To issue a claim for money, the fees are based on the amount claimed, including interest.

**VAT is not payable on court fees

We may also in certain cases be able to recover the debt by way of statutory demand and petition for bankruptcy. The costs for this route will depend upon the nature of the debt and the debtor and we will be able to give an estimate of these once we have had some sight of the nature of your claim.

Exclusions

Our fees are fixed and include items detailed above, however there may be factors which would typically increase the cost of the fees. Where there is likely to be any additional cost, we will make sure you are informed of this at the earliest opportunity and a clear estimate of those extra costs will be provided.

Factors that may lead to an increase in cost include:

• Enforcement proceedings
• Instructing a Bailiff

Recovery of Costs from the Debtor

We will do everything we can to recover as much of your legal costs from the debtor in this type of claim. However, you should be aware that costs orders are not guaranteed to be made. If the claim is for under £10,000 it will be on the small claims track in which costs are not necessarily available. Moreover, costs are at the discretion of the Judge; there is no automatic legal right to a costs order and one can generally only recover costs inasmuch as the Judge considers they are reasonable and proportionate. In practice, therefore, one can never expect to recover the entirety of one’s costs.

Time Scales

A typical debt recovery will take between 6-18 weeks, from instruction through to payment from the other side. This may be quicker or longer depending on whether we are required to issue a claim and whether the other side pay promptly on receipt of any Judgment issued by a court. As detailed above, if enforcement action is required, we will discuss the fees and timescales involved.

Key Milestones

With every transaction there are key milestones, which may vary according to individual circumstances. Our fee will include these milestones and may be as follows:

• Taking your instructions and reviewing documentation
• Undertaking appropriate searches
• Issuing a letter before action requesting payment from the debtor
• Receiving payment and sending this on to you
• Drafting and issuing a claim form to the relevant court if the debt is not paid
• Applying to the court to enter a Judgment in Default if the debtor fails to respond to court proceedings
• Contacting the other side to request payment where a Judgment in Default has been issued by the court

*VAT, currently at 20%

See our Dispute Resolution Services