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Debt Recovery Pricing

To enable business owners to plan ahead and keep an eye on costs our fee structure is completely transparent.*

Fixed Costs and Hourly Rates

A simple Letter Before Action based on an outstanding invoice costs £50 + VAT and is available for all debts of over £100.

Our fees include taking your instructions, reviewing documentation, undertaking appropriate searches, sending the Letter Before Action, receiving payment and transferring the money to you.

It is difficult to estimate the length of time it will take to recover your debt. This depends on whether the debtor pays upon receipt of a Letter Before Action or whether it is necessary to issue County Court proceedings against the debtor.

Undisputed Claims

If it is necessary to issue court proceedings we charge a fixed fee of £250 + VAT (plus any court fees) to prepare the claim form based on a simple debt.

Disputed Claims and Complex Claims

If the debt is disputed we charge at an hourly rate:

Legal Representative	Hourly Rate
Partner / Solicitor / Chartered Legal Executive with 8+ Years post qualification experience	£280 + VAT
Solicitor / Chartered Legal Executive with 4+ Years post qualification experience	£220 + VAT
Solicitor / Chartered Legal Executive with less than 4 Years post qualification experience	£180 + VAT
Trainee Solicitors / Paralegals (working with supervision)	£130 + VAT

Our People

Chris Burke - Director / Head of Commercial Litigation department (Qualified 15.10.90)
Asa Cocker - Chartered Legal Executive (Qualified 20.09.17)
Laura Campbell - Litigation Solicitor (Qualified 17.09.07)
Gary Hall - Litigation Solicitor (Qualified 01.05.98)
Leigh Sunter - Chartered Legal Executive (Qualified 01.01.2014)
Chloe Andrew Willis - Paralegal
Jade Wood - Paralegal
Georgina Hassall - Paralegal

If Court proceedings are issued and the case becomes contested our charges will be calculated on an hourly rate basis as specified above. A costs estimate will be given at that time. As you will appreciate, most cases are concluded/compromised before Trial.

Please note that you will be responsible to pay for any Court fees, Barrister’s fees, Land Register search fees, process server fees and company search fees. These are referred to as disbursements. A full breakdown will be provided to you by your legal representative.

Insolvency Proceedings

If you do not wish to issue proceedings in the County Court you may wish to consider Insolvency proceedings. Insolvency proceedings are only appropriate if the debt is undisputed. Our legal fees and other costs are set out below:

	Statutory Demand	Winding Up Petition (Company)	Bankruptcy Petition (Individual)
Legal costs	£300 + VAT	£1400 + VAT	£1200 + VAT
Court Fee	Nil	£280	£280
Search Fee	Nil	£2.00	Nil
Official Receiver deposit	Nil	£1600	£990
Process Server’s fees	Approx £120 + VAT	£120.00 + VAT	£120 + VAT
London Gazette Fee	Nil	£79.40 + VAT	Nil
Barrister’s Fee (if a hearing is listed)		£150.00 + VAT	TBC
TOTAL	£420 (plus VAT on the items specified above)	£3,631.40 (plus VAT on the items specified above)	£2,590.00 (plus VAT on the items specified above)

If the company or individual is not wound up/declared bankrupt then the Official Receiver’s deposit is refundable (except a £50.00 admin charge, which is retained by the Official Receiver).

Our aim is to always keep clients up to date and informed and we will tell you if any unforeseen extra work becomes necessary. We will also inform you in writing of the estimated costs of that extra work before you incur extra fees and we will always attempt to agree on an amended charge with you so there are no surprises in your legal bills. If this is not acceptable we will just charge you on an hourly basis for the work done to date.

* Please advise at the outset how you wish us to calculate our charges, in the absence of which our charges will be calculated on an hourly basis.

Christopher Burke