Debt Recovery Price Guidelines
If you are owed a sum of money and your invoice is an undisputed invoice, we can offer the following fixed fee debt recovery service. In the event that the debt is disputed, we offer the following fee scale.
Please bear in mind that there is always difficulty in predicting costs in advance, as often one does not know how a case will develop until it is actually up and running.
It can sometimes be impossible to predict what/which of the issues will be raised by your opposite number(s), or whether a change in their circumstances and the manner in which they choose to run their case may cause further work to become necessary, thus further cost would be incurred.
For example, an application for specific disclosure to force your opponent to reveal important evidence will cause additional cost to that of the standard disclosure (or basic disclosure under the Polit Scheme PD 51U).
Mr Omid Khub, who has at least nine years of post-qualification experience, together with our team of paralegals, (and if so appropriate, including one or more of our consultant Solicitors or a Barrister of various expertise and years of experience) would be handling your matter, if you so choose to instruct us, and would be able to elaborate further upon any enquiry that you may have. Your matter will always be conducted under Mr Omid Khub’s supervision unless through unforeseen circumstances this would not be possible, in which case we will notify you should this arise.
We always advise you to make a contingency in your financial planning for the possibility of any diversion in your case.
As such, subject to the above qualifications, our price ranges will usually fall into the following categories:
Claim(s) not exceeding £1000 in value
- We will have an initial 30 minute consultation free of charge. £0
- If you decide to instruct us and your case is simple, on the proviso that it will not take more than a further 30 minutes, we will still not charge you for taking your initial instructions. £0
- We charge £50 plus VAT (£60) for a simple demand letter for payment of the debt on your behalf.
- If your demand is not met by the debtor, and you wish to pursue your claim further, we charge £160 plus VAT fixed fee plus disbursement to lodge the claim under this category at the County Court; and
- If your demand is not met by the debtor, and you wish to pursue your claim further, we charge £350 plus VAT fixed fee plus disbursement (court fee and travel cost) to appear on your behalf for one hour at the County Court for a claim under this category.
- The above price guidelines do not apply to Statutory Demands work or Winding up Petitions or any other complex insolvency recovery procedures. Due to the complexity and unpredictability of such recovery procedures, we are unable to offer any fixed fee thus our hourly rate will apply. Our hourly rates are contained within our client care letter and do change from time to time to take account of the inflation and the increase cost of providing you with our services. A copy of this can be supplied to you on request. Our current hourly rate is £350 plus VAT per hour plus disbursements plus VAT for a senior solicitor (grade A or similar fee earners or a consultant barrister with equivalent experience and expertise). For grade B and C fee earner or other fee earner of equivalent experience we charge £197 to £185 plus VAT respectively and for grade D fee earner, we charge between £130 to £160 plus VAT per hour, (depending on their years of experience). Most disbursements will attract VAT. Court fees usually do not – but as and when it arises we will inform you in advance of such cost being incurred and seek your authority first.
Claim(s) exceeding £1001 (but not exceeding £10,000)
- We charge £3,600.00 plus VAT (£4,320) (plus disbursements) for a simple claim under this category, on the proviso that it does not take us more than 12 working hours to resolve your dispute (from start to finish). We do not guarantee any result.
- If it takes more than 12 hours – it is likely that the case gives rise to moderately complex issues of law and fact notwithstanding its monetary value of £10,000 – in this case we will charge you £4,000 plus VAT (£4,800)- on the proviso that it does not take us more than 15.5 working hours to resolve your dispute (from start to finish) – We do not guarantee any result.
- If your case takes more than 15.5 hours to resolve – our hourly rate shall apply for each hour of work we carry out on your behalf. Our hourly rate is £350 plus VAT per hour plus disbursements for a senior solicitor, or a barrister of similar experience and between £130 to £160 plus VAT for paralegal work.
Claims exceeding £10,001 (but not exceeding £25,000)
- For a simple to moderate case in this category we charge £7500 plus VAT (£9000) to £15000 plus VAT (£18,000) plus disbursements.
- For cases of a complex nature in this category, our hourly rate shall apply for each hour of work we carry out on your behalf. Our hourly rate is £350 plus VAT per hour plus disbursement for a senior solicitor, and between £130 to £160 plus VAT for paralegal work.
Claims exceeding £25,001 in value
- Our hourly rate shall apply for each hour of work we carry out on your behalf. Our hourly rate is £350 plus VAT per hour plus disbursement for a senior solicitor, and between £130 to £160 plus VAT for paralegal work.
The above estimates do NOT include the cost of any of the following stages:
- Dealing with any Alternative Dispute Resolution on your behalf, such as mediation or negotiation
- Dealing with interim applications (whether you wish to make it/them or made against you)
- Dealing with any interlocutory applications(whether you wish to make it/them or made against you)
- Dealing with any appeals (whether you wish to make it/them or made against you)
- Dealing with any applications for stay (whether you wish to make it/them or made against you)
- Dealing with applications to set aside judgment (whether you wish to make it/them or made against you)
- Dealing with strike out application(s) (whether you wish to make it/them or made against you)
- Dealing with the cost of the proceedings (whether you wish to make it/them or made against you)
If the above steps are required, we will provide specific cost estimates to you for your approval based on our hourly rates.
Disbursements
Disbursements are costs related to your matter and are payable to third parties by you. These are often, court fees, fees for expert reports and fees paid to a barrister (other than our consultant Barrister(s)) to represent you at a hearing. Whilst we can handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf, you will reimburse us for any disbursement which we pay on your behalf.
Please find the link to court fees https://www.gov.uk/court-fees-what-they-are
Barrister’s fees for attending a court hearing (excluding preparation) are usually estimated (not quote) between £1,200 – £1,500 per day + VAT (£1,440- £1800) for a simple hearing for a junior to attend. This excludes any preparation time that takes place before the hearing.
More complex cases attract higher fees. The fees charged depend on the experience of the barrister and the complexity of the case. Costs for more complex cases will be given on an individual basis once an appropriate barrister is identified and instructed to assist with your case.
Judgement
In a simple case, in the event that your opponent does not respond to the claim or respond by admitting the claim, we may be able to obtain a default judgment on your behalf, in which case we will charge £600 plus VAT (£720) for the preparation and lodging of the application to the court for a claim not exceeding £10,000.00– this excludes the relevant disbursements and any court appearance (if required) and travel expenses to attend court on your behalf.
Enforcement Proceedings
In the event that we obtain a judgment on your behalf and the debtor fails to make payment, there are a number of ways in which we can assist you in enforcing the judgment.
- Bailiffs/High Court Enforcement Officers
- We can instruct Bailiffs or High Court Enforcement officers to attempt to seize items of property belonging to the debtor. Our fixed fees for this service are £350 plus VAT plus disbursement for a straight forward case on the proviso that this work does not exceed more than 2 hours work by one paralegal fee earner.
- Attachment of Earnings Order
- If the debtor is employed and earning, we may be able to apply to the court for an order to deduct payments from the debtor’s wages. Our fixed fee for this service is £700 +VAT (£840) for a straight forward case – on the proviso that this work does not exceed more than 2 hours of work by a senior solicitor. This attracts a Court Fee of £110 (No VAT payable) – this may increase from time to time – please refer to: https://www.gov.uk/court-fees-what-they-are
- Charging Orders
- If the debtor owns a property, it may be possible to apply for a Charging Order to secure the debt against that property. For this service our hourly rate will apply plus VAT and Disbursements.
- Typically, in a simple uncontested case for a charging order – this work will take circa 5 hours at a cost per hour of £350 plus VAT plus disbursement (court fee and Counsel’s fee).
Time scale
In a simple uncontested small claims’ case, we usually aim to conclude your claim within 4-6 weeks.
Other cases are governed by their complexity and the parties’ co-operation during the course of the litigation. We cannot predict how long it would take to resolve your matter.
Again, please bear in mind that there is always difficulty in predicting costs in advance, as often one does not know how a case will develop until it is actually up and running. These prices may vary upon the discovery of any fact that gives rise to a complexity (irrespective of the value of your claim) that is not known to us at the time of the publication of these cost guidelines.
