Debt Collection Fees

The details below set out our estimate of costs for dealing with debt claims.  This does not cover any other type of proceedings.  A debt claim is a claim in relation to an outstanding invoice or invoices which is disputed or not.  The claim could be against an individual or a Company.  In such cases we estimate that the following fees for each stage apply depending on the value of each case and whether or not it is defended:-

Value of Claim	(a) Initial Instructions	(b) Letter of Claim (+a)	(c) Pre-action communications / negotiations / discussions (+a & b)	(d) Issue of proceedings to Default Judgment (+ a, b & c)		If case is defended Total Solicitors costs (add e+f+g where applicable)	(e) Issue Fee	(f) Trial Fee	(g) Approx Barrister’s Fees for trial
Cases valued up to £4,999	£100	£100	£300 to £500	£350 to £750		£3,000 to £4,000	£35 - £205 depending on value of claim	£25 - £335 depending on value of claim	£500
Cases valued between £5,000 and £9,999	£100	£100	£500	£500 to £900		£5,000 to £6,000	£455	£335	£500
Cases valued between £10,000 and £25,000	£100 to £200	£100 to £300	£1,000 to £2,000	£850 to £1,000		£10,000 to £12,000	5% of the value of the claim	£545	£1,500
Cases valued between £25,001 and £50,000	£100 to £200	£200 to £500	£1,000 to £3,000	£2,000 to £3,000		£25,000	5% of the value of the claim	£1,090	£2,000
Cases valued between £50,0001 and £100,000	£100 to £300	£200 to £600	£2,000 to £5,000	£2,500 to £4,000		£25,000 to £35,000	5% of the value of the claim	£1,090	£5,000 - £7,000 for the first day of a trial plus £2,000 per day for each day thereafter

 

The fees set out in the table are accumulative for each piece of work required in the case.

The work undertaken will be charged at the hourly rate of the fee earner conducting the case.

Fee Earner	Role	Hourly Rate
Lisa Nesbitt	Legal Exec. (ACilex)	£195 + VAT

All our fees set out above are exclusive of VAT and VAT at the current rate (currently 20%) will be charged on those fees.

The fees set out above are our usual fee estimate for debt collection cases.  Some cases are relatively straight forward and some are significantly complex.

Although we try our best to keep in line with the estimates provided, cases of particular complexity will require a bespoke cost estimate.  Complex cases include (but are not limited to) those where there are more than one opponent, cases where invoices are in dispute other claims which may be made or brought by a third party and were a counter claim is made.  There may be a high number of witnesses, expert evidence is required and/or the case is listed for more than 2 hours for a small claim or more than 1 day.    There may be other areas that make the matter particularly complex in addition to those already stated such as the opponent being a Litigant in Person.

Upon receipt of initial instructions we will be able to confirm our estimate of costs tailored to your case.

You have to pay a Court issue fee when the papers are sent to the Court/Claim Centre.  You also have to pay a Trial fee before the Trial takes place.  The Court fees are set out in the table above. 

If you wish to make an application during the course of proceedings then further Court fees will be payable for each application made.  If the application is required as a result of a new issue arising then further costs will be charged for that also.  The current application fees are £255.00 for a hearing on notice and £100.00 for a Consent Order or a hearing without notice.

Disbursements

Disbursements are money that we pay out for you.  This could be for an expert report, a Court fee, a Land Registry fee or any fee that we have to pay out for your case.  Disbursements will be charged in addition to the fees set out above so if we have to instruct an expert to provide a report in relation to your case then those fees and any other associated fees that have to be paid will be in addition to the fees set out within the cost estimate.

Barristers/Counsel

We sometimes instruct a Barrister to represent you at Court or to provide advice at a conference or in writing.  In some situations Barristers may also draft Court pleadings.  Barrister’s fees are charged in addition to Solicitor’s fees but we will ensure that you are aware and agree to any costs before they are incurred.