Our Approach

Your case is unique, so we take a bespoke approach to pricing taking into account factors such as value and complexity, and will provide you with a personalised fee proposal at the outset.

We recognise the importance of cost certainty to clients and in most cases we are able to offer either a fixed fee, or an initial fixed fee. We otherwise charge on a time spent basis at hourly rates which, for debt recovery work, range from £135 plus VAT (for a paralegal) to £400 plus VAT (for a partner), as set out below.

We do not enter into conditional fee agreements, damages based agreements or any other form of contingent fee arrangement, although we can assist in procuring ‘after the event’ legal expenses insurance to protect against the risk of an adverse costs order.

For debt claims between £0 - 100,000, the recoverability of costs may be fixed by the court. This means, irrespective of the amount of costs you spend on pursuing your claim, you may only recover a much smaller fixed fee through the courts. However, you will remain liable to us for the full amount of our fees. 

Serious consideration needs to be given to the proportionality of the costs that will be incurred in pursuing a debt claim, compared to the value of the debt itself. We can discuss this with you.

Dealing with the process

In the first instance we will send the debtor a letter of claim. This can result in prompt payment. If we receive no response or if the debtor refuses to pay without a good reason, we will discuss with you whether we issue a court claim. If we do issue a court claim, but it is ignored, we will enter default judgment.

If the claim is defended, we will discuss the next steps with you, including whether you wish to make a settlement proposal or to propose Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

What happens after a claim becomes defended will be up to the court, and the parties to the claim. However, typically there will be a case management hearing and dates will be set for disclosure, witness statements, expert evidence (if appropriate) and a hearing or trial to determine the outcome of the claim. For these steps, we will charge on our hourly rates, as set out below, or, we may be able to agree fixed fees.

Debt Recovery

In relation to debt recovery work, such as the recovery of rent arrears from a former tenant, our fixed fees are set out below.

The work will be undertaken by a paralegal or trainee solicitor supervised by a solicitor or associate solicitor unless agreed otherwise. These fees assume that this is a debt recovery case where there is a fixed, written sum of money due under a contract, and that there is no counter-claim.

We consider that if a debt recovery claim is subject to a counter-claim, and/or becomes subject to complex factual or legal issues or requires expert evidence, it is likely to fall outside of the below debt recovery guideline costs, and we would then discuss fees with you separately.

The fees below do not include the costs of disbursements, such as court fees or barrister’s fees.

Drafting and sending of a Letter Before Action	£600 Excl *VAT
Drafting and issuing a Claim	£1000 Excl *VAT
Entering default judgment	£200 Excl *VAT
Drafting and filing a Defence	£600 Excl *VAT
Drafting and filing a Defence and Counterclaim	£850 Excl *VAT
Advising on next steps, including enforcement procedures if payment is not received.	£250 - £350 Excl *VAT
Advising on options for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)	£250 Excl *VAT

*The current rate of VAT is 20%.

Our debt recovery hourly rates: 

Position	Hourly Rate (Excl *VAT)
Paralegal	£135 (Excl *VAT)
Trainee Solicitor	£170 (Excl *VAT)
Solicitor	£210 (Excl *VAT)
Associate	£250 (Excl *VAT)
Senior Associate	£295 (Excl *VAT)
Legal Director	£340 (Excl *VAT)
Partner	£400 (Excl *VAT)

Court Fees

When issuing a claim for money, the court issue fee is based on the amount claimed, including interest.

The court issue fee is set by the HM Courts & Tribunals Service, and were updated on 1 October 2024, and are as set out below:

Value of your claim	Court Fee
Up to £300	£35
Greater than £300 but no more than £500	£50
Greater than £500 but no more than £1,000	£70
Greater than £1,000 but no more than £1,500	£80
Greater than £1,500 but no more than £3,000	£115
Greater than £3,000 but no more than £5,000	£205
Greater than £5,000 but no more than £10,000	£455
Greater than £10,000 but no more than £200,000	5% of the value of the claim
More than £200,000	£10,000

There may be further court fees payable, depending on how the claim progresses. We can discuss this with you, as the claim progresses.

Barrister's fees 

The cost of either using an agent, or fully qualified barrister, is not included in our costs above, and may not always be needed.

In those claims where an agent or fully qualified barrister is needed, then the average cost for an agent will usually be lower than those of a fully qualified barrister.

While we would need to obtain quotes for you, for the provision of an agent or a fully qualified barrister's services, an agent's fees will usually run into the £100s, and a fully qualified barrister's fees will usually run into the £1000s.

Further points to note 

Anyone wishing to proceed with a claim should note that:

We cannot guarantee that the VAT element of our fee is recoverable from your debtor. You may need to seek separate tax advice.

Interest and compensation may take the debt into a higher banding, with a higher cost.

The costs quoted above are not for matters where enforcement action is needed to collect your debt.

Resolving debt recovery matters can take anything from a week, to many months, depending on the debtor’s approach. If enforcement action is needed, the matter will take longer to resolve.