This August marks the 1-year anniversary of Adam Mayer being appointed the latest Director of Nowell Meller. Adam joined the firm in 2015, started his training contract in 2017 and qualified as a Solicitor in 2019. Following Adam’s hard work and...
Thank you for looking at our Debt Recovery services. The bulk of our debt recovery instructions come from businesses across various sectors. With many years of experience and strong expertise in litigation both in and out of court, our debt recovery service is fast, efficient and economical.
Why Us
We are experienced in recovering both disputed and undisputed debts. This page covers our pricing for undisputed debt recovery – please get in touch to find out more about our fee structure for pursuing disputed debts.
We pride ourselves on exceptional customer care enabling you to send out the right message and retain the goodwill of your customers whilst recovering any outstanding payments. The work will be carried out by a qualified solicitor with many years' litigation experience.
We can offer you clear, practical advice and will discuss all the options available to establish the most appropriate way of dealing with your debtors. We have tried and tested processes in place to ensure we can recover undisputed debts quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively, with transparent fixed fees.
Uncontested Pricing
We appreciate that the fees involved in debt recovery are important to you. We review our fees regularly, considering client feedback, to ensure that we continue to offer a cost-effective debt recovery service.
We typically work on a fixed fee basis until a matter is contested, so that from the outset you know what the fees will be for each stage of the matter. Should a matter be contested, please refer to the contested section below.
These costs apply where your claim relates to an unpaid invoice or invoices which are not disputed and enforcement action is not needed. If the other party disputes your claim at any point, we will discuss any further work required and provide you with revised information about costs which might be on a fixed fee or an hourly rate. The fixed fees set out below do not include giving you any advice about your claim.
Although the court fee will be added to the debt if court proceedings are commenced and you may also claim a modest amount towards your legal costs, you are unlikely to recover your full legal costs in cases of this nature.
You may be able to claim interest on the debt and if you are a business seeking to recover a debt from another business, you may also recover statutory compensation under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts regulations.
Contested Pricing
Not all claims will be admitted or uncontested and often your opponent will present an argument in response to your claim. Inevitably, this will require further work not only to take your instructions on their position but to respond to them. Additionally, further steps in the procedure are required, which can ultimately lead to the matter proceeding to a Court hearing.
If a matter is likely to be contested, please provide details to us about the dispute and we can provide a detailed estimate for your costs, On contested matters, we charge on an hourly rate basis. The fees charged will depend on how the matter is disputed and the value of the claim.
For claims with a value of under £10,000.00, the average costs of proceedings is estimated at around £3,000 plus VAT. If the matter is above this figure the estimate cost could be in the region of £5,000 to £20,000 plus VAT.
These are just estimates and we will endeavour to discuss all options available to you to reach the most cost effective and successful conclusion.
The Process
Our fees are fixed and include items detailed above, however there may be factors which would typically increase the cost of the fees. Where there is likely to be any additional cost, we will make sure you are informed of this at the earliest opportunity and a clear estimate of those extra costs will be provided.
Stage 1 – Letter Before Action
If you are a new creditor client, then this will be charged at a fixed fee of £325.00 plus VAT. This figure includes taking the details necessary to set you up on our system and to open the relationship. If you provide multiple instructions at once, then the initial letter before action will be charged at a reduced value depending on the number of instructions. If you have more than one debt to recover, please contact us for a quote.
Letters before action sent to companies usually require the debtor to pay within 14 days, but letters to individuals must provide for 30 days under the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims which came into force in October 2017. The Protocol requires that far more information and documentation is sent to a consumer debtor than was previously the case and care should be taken as failure to comply with the Protocol can lead to costs sanctions if court proceedings are taken. In addition, the time limit for payment in international letters before action may vary.
The is the first stage when a matter may become contested. We are keen to discuss the merits of any response to you at this stage before any court costs are paid and provide you with alternative means of resolution such as offers of settlement and mediation.
Stage 2 – Commencement of Court Action
This stage involves the completion of the court claim form and submission of the same to the court. It can take the court up to two weeks to process the claim and to post the documents out to the defendant.
To issue a claim for money, the court fees are based on the amount claimed, including interest. Court fees range from £35 for debts below £300 to a figure representing 5% of the claimed amount for claims between £10,000 and £200,000. However, please note that we are currently unable to assist individual users with debt below £5,000.00 and commercial users with debts below £3,000.00. We have therefore not listed any prices for this work.
Debt Value | Court Fee (May 2024) | Our Fee – Stage 2 (plus VAT) |
|---|---|---|
Below £300 | £35 | N/A |
£301 to £500 | £50 | N/A |
£501 to £1,000 | £70 | N/A |
£1,0001 to £1,500 | £80 | N/A |
£1,501 to £3,000 | £115 | N/A |
£3,001 to £5,000 | £205 | £325.00 |
£5,001 - £10,000 | £455 | £450.00 |
£10,001 - £25,000 | 5 % value of claim | £650.00 (may vary depending on Counsel instruction) |
| £25,001 - £200,000 | 5 % value of claim | £750.00 (may vary depending on Counsel instruction) |
| £200,000 plus | £10,000 | £1,000.00 (may vary depending on Counsel instruction) |
Once the court has served the claim a debtor has 14 days in which to file a defence or enter an acknowledgement. After the 14 day period has expired a request can be made to the court for judgment to be entered providing the debtor has not filed an acknowledgement or a defence.
This is the second formal stage when a matter can move from an uncontested to a contested matter.
Stage 3 – Request judgement in default
Provided that the debtor has not defended all or any part of the claim, an application may then be made for judgement in the sum claimed. This is not available for contested matters. This will be undertaken at a fixed fee of £125 plus VAT.
It will usually take the court around two weeks in which to process the application.
If the debtor does not pay, then further enforcement action is likely to be necessary and the manner of enforcement will need to be chosen based on the circumstances. There will be additional court fees to pay and additional legal fees if we are asked to assist you with enforcement work.
