Fees for debt claims

Pre-action

The following caveats apply:

1. All figures are VAT exclusive and exclusive of disbursements
2. These costs cannot usually be reclaimed from your debtor
3. We will include a claim for late payment interest and late payment collection costs under the Late Payments of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 and the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2002 where applicable

Legal proceedings – claims up to £100,000

Unfortunately, not all matters are able to be resolved at the pre-action stage and where legal proceedings are necessary we will charge the fees and disbursements set out below:

Fixed fees

If the debt is not paid, the fees for drafting and issuing a claim and where no acknowledgment of service or defence is received, applying to the court to enter judgement in default, we will charge:

A fixed fee for issue of proceedings: £300
A fixed fee for judgment in default: £30  

1. All figures are VAT exclusive and exclusive of disbursements 
2. The VAT element of our fee cannot be reclaimed from your debtor
3. There are limits on the amount of costs that you can recover from your debtor which may be less than our fees
4. These costs apply where your claim is in relation to an unpaid invoice which is not disputed and enforcement action is not needed
5. When judgement in default in obtained, we write to the other side to request payment. If payment is not received within 7 days, we will provide you with advice on next steps and likely costs 
6. If the other party disputes your claim at any point, we will discuss any further work required and provide you with revised advice about costs if necessary, which could be on a fixed fee (e.g. if a one off letter is required), or an hourly rate if more extensive work is needed

The following disbursements are applicable depending on the value of your claim:

Capped fees

We are able to provide certain aspects of the legal work for defended claims at capped rates and will discuss these with you for claims >£10,000 which proceed in the fast track or multi-track. For claims in the Small  claims track (<£10,000) we offer the fees set out below.  The benefit of this to you is that you can budget a particular figure for a stage of litigation in the knowledge that even if the fees calculated on an hourly basis are in excess of this, you will only be charged the capped fee, with the added benefit that if the work can be delivered below the cap then that figure will be charged.

We anticipate that the majority of cases will be resolved either at, or shortly after, a summary judgment hearing. We have therefore identified five stages where we are able to offer to cap our fees:

Small claims – key stages

The following caveats apply:

1. All figures are VAT exclusive and exclusive of disbursements 
2. The VAT element of our fee cannot be reclaimed from your debtor
3. There are limits on the amount of costs that you can recover from your debtor which may be less than our fees
4. The capped fees only apply to claims up to £10,000
5. Interest and compensation may take the debt into a higher banding, with a higher cost
6. The costs quoted above are not for matters where enforcement action, such as the bailiff, is needed to collect your debt

Fast-track and multi-track claims (>£10,000)

For claims of >£10,000 if the other party disputes your claim at any point, we will discuss any further work required and provide you with revised advice about costs if necessary, which could be on a fixed fee (e.g. if a one off letter is required), or an hourly rate if more extensive work is needed. In addition, the disbursements set out below will also apply.

Our standard hourly rates are:

Estimated disbursements per matter up to trial for all claims <£100,000

The following caveats apply:

1. In addition to the disbursements listed above we may charge you disbursements in accordance with our standard terms of business. These include (but are not limited to) printing, photocopying, files, folders, dividers supplied by HDOCS, any other HDOCS charges, CDs, DVDs, agent’s fees, bank charges and counsel’s fees which we will notify you of in advance
2. There are limits on the amount of costs that you can recover from your debtor which may be less than our fees/disbursements
3. The Advocate’s charge of £185 plus VAT (above) covers a two hour hearing only
4. The remaining Advocate’s charges are indicative and would need to be negotiated depending upon the complexities of the case

Enforcement

In the event that judgment is obtained in respect of your unpaid invoices, it may be necessary to commence enforcement proceedings to recover the debt from your debtor. The fees for issuing a statutory demand and proceeding to a bankruptcy or winding up petition are as follows:

The following caveats apply:

1. All figures are VAT exclusive
2. The fee for a bankruptcy petition or a winding up petition is for a single hearing only
3. There are limits on the amount of costs that you can recover from your debtor which may be less than our fees/disbursements.

Expected timescales

Matters usually take six to eight weeks from receipt of instructions from you to receipt of payment from the other side, depending on whether or not it is necessary to issue a claim. This is on the basis that the other side pays promptly on receipt of judgement in default. If the matter is contested or if enforcement action is needed, the matter will take longer to resolve. We will advise you on the likely timescale as the matter proceeds.