Alderson Law

Debt Recovery Pricing

Who will be handling my Case?

Most of our debt recovery cases are handled by Tracey Murray who is a Solicitor and Partner in the Firm. Tracey is a Graduate of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and qualified as a Solicitor in 1997.

We provide advice on both individual and commercial debts and on all aspects of debt recovery work. This includes small claims up to the £10,000 limit through to high value and contested matters with multiple defendants. Our advice and services cover the debt recovery process from start to finish providing advice and assistance on the prospects of successful recovery, cost effectiveness and the range of options available from the initial demand letter through to enforcement depending on each client’s circumstances.

Fixed Fee Work

We may offer to carry out the work associated in recovering a debt and or seeking a Court Judgement for a fixed fee. In all other cases our charges will be time based on our hourly rate charges set out below. Where we agree a fixed fee it will be charged as follows:

Debt value up to £5000 fee £600 plus VAT (£720 inc VAT)

Debt Value £5001 to £10000 fee £800 plus vat (£960 inc VAT)

Debt Value £10001 to £50000 fee amounts to 5% of value of claim

Payment of our fees is not contingent upon successful recovery of your debt and will be payable whether or not you recover any monies owed to you.

Hourly Rate Work

Our fees vary depending on who carries out the work. Our Partner and Senior Solicitor rate is £220 per hour (£264 inc VAT). Our Solicitor rate is £200 per hour plus VAT (£240 inc VAT).

Disbursements

These are payments which are made to others in dealing with your case. They include for example Court Fees, expert or witness fees, travelling expenses and Barristers/Counsels fees. We will endeavour as far as possible to inform you of what disbursements will be payable before they are paid and agree these with you. We will require you to pay us for disbursement in advance of them being paid

Key Stages in Debt Recovery Cases

The following are a summary of the usual stages in claims involving typical cases. No two cases are the same however. Cases differ in issues and complexity. Some are straightforward involving few issues or little application of the Law but others may involve consideration of a lot of case law or research. Some cases may involve little documentation or involve few witnesses and others may involve substantial documentation and multiple witnesses. These are all factors which will necessarily involve more time being required to be spent on your case and which will increase costs.

Obtaining a Court Judgment (a CCJ) is not the end of the process and often enforcement action will be required to be taken to recover a debt. This is additional work in the process and is not covered in our fixed feed referred to above. It is a separate process after a Judgment is obtained.

The usual steps in debt recovery cases are:

Taking your instructions to advice on the strengths or weaknesses of your case and prospects of recovery.
Conducting searches and Preparation of a Letter of Claim pursuant to the Pre Action Protocol (where applicable).
Preparing your Court Claim form (County Court Claim form or High Court Writ) and supporting particulars of the claim
Considering any Acknowledgment of Service and advising you further.
Preparing request for default Judgment or Judgment in Admission where appropriate.
Considering any Defence with you and advising you further.
Preparing a Request for Summary Judgment if appropriate and evidence/supporting statement.
Considering Court Directions Order and advising you further.
Attending Court Directions appointment and preparing for the hearings.
Preparing Lists of Documents to be considered and witness statements to be used.
Considering and advising on opponents witness statements and documents.
Attending any pre hearing appointment at Court.
Preparing the bundle of documents to be considered at the hearing.
Instructing a Barrister/Counsel in your case if required.
Preparing submissions or skeleton arguments.
Agreeing any statement of issues and list of cases to be considered by the Court.
Representation at the hearing either by us or with your Barrister/Counsel.
Negotiations throughout the process and advising on settlement/compromise options and if mediation is appropriate.
Advising on the outcome of a hearing and any Court Orders/ Judgments made.

How Long Will my Case take?

This is difficult to predict accurately and much depends on how the debtor responds to your claim. If payment follows in response to the letter of claim this may be a week or two however if Court proceedings are required and become protracted the case could take several months. Most claims are determined within 6 -12 months but can take longer.