Fees
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Please see below for details of our pricing structure for Debt Recovery services and Employment Tribunal work. If you would like to discuss our fees for any additional areas of work please contact Alan Preston on 01744 742305.
PROFESSIONAL CHARGES FOR DEBT RECOVERY WORK - OPTIONS FEES
Option 1 - letter before claim to debtor followed by issuing of claim in County Court
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Letter to debtor before issuing claim - work may comprise perusal of client’s invoices and statement or other documents,
telephone call or correspondence to client to discuss matter and preparation of bespoke letter before claim to debtor
attaching invoices and statement or other relevant document (time period of 7 or 14 days for payment depending
on client’s instructions). £100.00
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Additional chasing correspondence - per letter. £50.00
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Claim Form - work comprises checking with client to see if payment has been made pursuant to letter before claim,
preparation of Claim Form and issuing the claim with the County Court. £200.00
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Entering default judgment. £75.00
Enforcement - work comprises a formal Request for a Warrant of Execution or a High Court Writ of Fieri Facias and
includes liaising with High Court Enforcement Officer or County Court Bailiff. Other enforcement options are available
and such options will be discussed with the client and fees provided if applicable. £150.00
Please note that if there is a successful recovery from the debtor, we reserve the right to increase our fixed fees. Such increase would normally be limited to the interest, late payment charges and / or costs granted by the Court and paid by the debtor.
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Option 2 (no letter before claim - client has already sent a letter before claim)
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Claim Form - work may involve perusal of client’s invoices and statement or other relevant documents and, if available,
perusal of client’s own letter before claim, telephone call to client to discuss matter, preparation of Claim Form and
issuing the claim with the County Court. £250.00
Entering judgment. £75.00
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Enforcement - Work comprises a formal Request for a Warrant of Execution or a High Court Writ of Fieri Facias and
includes liaising with High Court Enforcement Officer or County Court Bailiff. Other enforcement options are available
and such options will be discussed with the client and fees provided if applicable. £150.00
Please note that if there is a successful recovery from the debtor, we reserve the right to increase our fixed fees. Such increase would normally be limited to the interest, late payment charges and / or costs granted by the Court and paid by the debtor.
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Option 3 (insolvency action - applicable to debts where there is no dispute or where there is unlikely to be any dispute and where the amount of the debt is at least £5,000 for an individual debtor and £750 for a limited company debtor - this option can be taken following the entering of a judgment against the debtor)
Statutory demand - work comprises perusal of client’s invoices and statement, telephone call to client to discuss
matter, preparation of statutory demand (this threatens a bankruptcy petition or a winding up petition if payment £375.00
is not made in 21 days) and liaising with Process Server (personal service of the statutory demand is required).
There is no requirement to have a court judgment prior to issuing a statutory demand although it is often the case or
that a statutory demand follows a judgment.
£300.00 (where we have
Note if there is an application to set aside the statutory demand or if there is an application for an injunction to already obtained a judgment
restrain the presentation or advertisement of the winding up petition then the above fixed fees would not apply for you).
and the matter would be classed as commercial litigation to which hourly rates would apply.
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Letter to Debtor prior to, at the same time as, or after, the service of the statutory demand, setting out why there
is no genuine dispute over the debt and why it should be paid immediately. £100.00
Bankruptcy petition / winding up petition - work comprises preparation of bankruptcy petition and liaising with the
Court, liaising with the Process Server, preparation of formal documents prior to the attendance at the court
hearing and attendance at the Court hearing - note if the debtor seeks to make payment after the presentation
and advertisement of the petition then we would seek recovery of all costs in addition to the payment of the debt.
Note this is the fee if the matter is not disputed. £1000.00
Please note that if there is a successful recovery from the debtor, we reserve the right to increase our fixed fees. Such increase would normally be limited to the interest, late payment charges and / or costs granted by the Court and paid by the debtor.
DISBURSEMENTS / COURT FEES
All disbursement costs are subject to change. For example, court fees often increase annually. The amounts below are for guidance only.
Court issue fees for debt claims are dependent on the amount of the claim – the relevant fee is available on request. Court fees are added to the amount of the claim. Court fees are also charged for enforcement. There is no court fee for entering a default judgment. In insolvency claims, the court fee includes a deposit which is payable to the Official Receiver. This is refundable should the hearing not go ahead.
Court issue fees:
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Amount of Debt Court fee
Up to £300 £35.00
£300 - £500 £50.00
£500 - £1,000 £70.00
£1,000 - £1,500 £80.00
£1,500 - £3,000 £115.00
£3,000 - £5,000 £205.00
£5,000 - £10,000 £455.00
£10,000 - £200,000 5% of claim
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Court fee to transfer judgment to High Court for enforcement (added to judgment sum). £66.00
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Court fee to request Warrant of Execution by County Court Bailiff (added to judgment sum). £110.00
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Fee payable to High Court Enforcement Officer should he / she be unable to enforce the judgment debt
(known as an ‘abort’ fee). £90.00
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Process Server’s fee (per service - applicable to insolvency proceedings). £105.00
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Outdoor Clerk’s fee (an Outdoor Clerk is necessary to issue insolvency proceedings in London and some other courts). £50.00
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Advertisement of winding up petition in London Gazette (applicable to insolvency proceedings). £105.00
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Please note that the above fees are for debt recovery work. If the claim is disputed it would no longer be regarded as debt recovery work and it would be classified as commercial litigation. We charge on an hourly rate for commercial litigation work.
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All charges above are exclusive of VAT and VAT would be charged on all professional charges and disbursements unless otherwise stated (note; VAT is not payable on court fees).
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Payment of court fees is required in advance or on receipt of invoice. Payment of other disbursements may be required in advance and if not in advance then on receipt of invoice.
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You should note that if court proceedings are issued some of the costs referred to above are recoverable from the debtor and would be added to the claim. The amount of recoverable costs (should the claim be disputed) often depends on the amount of the claim and whether the claim is regarded as a small claim or not (the general rule is that claims of less than £10,000 are regarded as small claims; the costs recoverable for small claims are normally limited).
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Where the debtor is a business it may be appropriate to seek recovery of debt recovery costs and / or compensation pursuant to late payment legislation. This may increase the amount which you are able to recover.
PROFESSIONAL CHARGES ESTIMATE FOR EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL WORK
The following fee estimate is for a standard case of unfair dismissal and / or wrongful dismissal in the Employment Tribunal and where the claim is taken to a hearing in the Employment Tribunal. If the case involves other elements of law (such as allegations of discrimination or whistle blowing) or if the case is not straightforward and involves the preparation of more than one witness statement the fees may vary and we will provide you with a fee estimate which applies to your specific case. Also, you should be aware that a high proportion of employment cases “settle” before they reach the Employment Tribunal. In such circumstances, the estimated fee is likely to be reduced subject to the stage at which the case settles.
Where we act for a former employee, a standard case of unfair dismissal and / or wrongful dismissal lasting one day in the Employment Tribunal would cost £3,500 plus VAT plus the cost of a barrister to attend on your behalf at the hearing.
Where we act for a business / employer, a standard case of unfair dismissal and / or wrongful dismissal lasting one day in the Employment Tribunal would cost £4,000 to £4,500 plus VAT plus the cost of a barrister to attend on your behalf at the hearing.
The cost of the barrister would depend on the level of seniority of the barrister and we would involve you in making the decision on the level of seniority. However, the cost of the barrister is normally at least £1,200.
For additional days in the Employment Tribunal (for example an Employment Tribunal hearing can often last one to five days) a further fee would need to be paid to the barrister (known as a refresher fee) which would be at least £600 plus VAT and a further fee would need to be paid to this firm of £400 plus VAT.
There are currently no fees payable to issue claims in the Employment Tribunal
You may be able to pay for your legal costs through your insurance. If this is the case, we will liaise with your insurer.
In certain cases, we may agree to act for you on the basis of a ‘no-win, no fee’ agreement whereby our fees are paid if the claim is settled or if a successful outcome is achieved at the hearing. We make such decisions on as case by case basis. Please note it is rare for your opponent to be ordered to pay your costs in Employment Tribunal.
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