Debt Recovery Charges

This information relates to debt claims within  the jurisdiction of England & Wales only. 

There are three main elements to the legal costs of:

  • our charges;
  • expenses we must pay out of your behalf (Disbursements);
  • costs that you may have to pay another party.
Our charges: –

Our hourly rate for Debt Recovery is dependent upon the Court in which the proceedings are issued, local claims are at the hourly rate of £225.00 per hour plus VAT, and rates increase in line with those set by the Courts https://www.gov.uk/guidance/solicitorsguideline-hourly-rates

On average, this type of works takes 20 hours to complete. This means that on average our charges will be £5,400.00 including VAT.

The exact number of hours it will take depends on the circumstances of your case, such as the complexity of legal or factual issues.

We reserve the right to increase the hourly rates if the work done is particularly complex or urgent, or the nature of your instructions require us to work outside normal office hours. If this happens, we will notify you in advance and agree an appropriate rate.

We will review our hourly rates on a periodic basis. We will give you advance notice of any change to our hourly rates.

Our charges do not include VAT, which we will add to your bill at the prevailing rate.

VAT: –

VAT is charged at the relevant rate set by central government. At present the VAT rate is 20%.

For example, on an hourly rate of £350, VAT is charged at £70, and so the total charge for 1 hour of time is £420.

Disbursements: –

We would usually expect to incur certain expenses your behalf which we will also add to your bill. The amount of expenses can vary and will include any expert witness costs or reports, any travelling to and from Court and any Court fees. Court fees depend on the nature of your claim and the value. This link will take you to HM Courts and Tribunals Service information on fees.

Third Party Costs: –

In some types of litigation, the losing party may be ordered to pay their opponent’s legal costs. This will depend on the nature and value of the dispute or your claim. We will advise you about this risk at the outset of your matter and discuss what steps can be taken to minimise it, e.g. buying insurance.

What’s included: –

In a typical, low value claim which does not include complicated legal or factual issues: –

  1. Meeting with you and identifying the legal basis of your claim
  2. We will ask you to collate relevant information and evidence
  3. We will consider the evidence and, if necessary, undertake legal research
  4. We will write to you with a report on our findings, your instructions and next steps
  5. Next steps typically involve writing to the person who is in debt to you and setting out the factual and legal basis of your claim against them and, if you agree, seeking an out of court settlement, and then preparing your claim for the Court
  6. If the matter proceeds to Court we will also, if required, represent you and undertake advocacy on your behalf.

If you decide to settle your claim out of Court, or once the Court has ruled on your claim, our instructions end. If you, or the person who owes you a debt, wish to appeal the Court’s decision, there will be additional costs. This is not included in the fee estimate given above.

Likely timescale and key stages: –

Debt Recovery matters usually take within 6 to 12 months from receiving your instructions to conclusion of the matter either by payment or enforcement methods. This is on the basis that the matter is straightforward. If any complications of this or any other nature arise the matter will take a longer. We will advise you if and when this occurs.

Most matters of this nature involve the following key stages:

• Identification of valid claim;

• Pre-action correspondence;

• Issue of Proceedings;

• Insolvency

• Statutory Demand

• Bankruptcy or winding up petition

Our expertise : –

Our team has over 16 years of collective experience in delivering high-quality work in all matters relating to debt recovery. For details of the members of the team who may work on your matter, please see: the profiles on our website at www.rmllp.co.uk.

 

Rushford & McCarville LLP is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Our SRA registration number is 623726.