If you have an unpaid invoice and would like to take action against your debtor, the following costs apply where your claim is in relation to the unpaid invoice which is not disputed and enforcement action is not needed.
If the other party disputes your claim at any point, then we will discuss any further work required and provide you with revised advice about costs if necessary, which could be on a fixed fee basis (for example if a one-off letter is required) or an hourly rate if more extensive work is needed.
An Indication of typical hourly rates involved in the case of a defended debt are as follows;
Saul Marine hourly rate – £290.00 plus VAT per hour
Paralegal hourly rate – £120.00 plus VAT per hour
Saul qualified as a Solicitor in March 1984, his initial experience being in Civil Litigation and he has extensive experience in disputed debt collection work. His experience gives our practice the unique ability to use his Dispute Resolution skills to reduce possible disputes that may arise.
Saul is assisted by Paralegals who have legal academic qualifications and work under Saul’s supervision and receive training within the firm.
In relation to undefended debts, before court proceedings are issued, a letter before action under the debt protocol needs to be sent to the debtor. This letter sets out the facts of the unpaid invoice and attaches documentation in support and encloses a reply form and financial statement to be completed by the debtor.
If the debtor does not respond within the time permitted for response, which is normally 30 days from the date of the letter, then we can move onto the next stage which is the issue of a claim at court by claim form.
Once the claim form is issued a court fee becomes payable and if there is no response or defence filed, then Judgment can be entered against the creditor. A separate quote will be provided for enforcement action and if a defence is filed to the claim, whereby the debt then becomes disputed.
For business to business debt that is undisputed the approximate legal fees and disbursements will be as follows.
Please note that this is an approximation of our likely fees and actual costs to you may differ and we would recommend that you confirm the exact costs with the office.
The likely fees in connection with preparing an initial letter before action under the debt protocol and preparing a claim form will be as follows;
Debt Up to £10,000
The likely fees in connection with preparation of the debt protocol letter are from £250 plus VAT of £50 totalling £300 plus VAT where the claim is up to £10,000, while the likely range of fees in connection with a preparation of the claim form up to £10,000 is likely to be in the range of £250-£300 plus VAT.
Debt between £10,000 and £50,000
Where the debt is between £10,000 and £50,000, the likely legal fees in connection with preparation of the debt protocol letter is in the range of £250 to £500 plus VAT, while the likely range of fees in connection with preparation of the claim form for a claim between £10,000-£50,000 is likely to be in the range of £300-£500 plus VAT.
In addition to your likely fees, there are also disbursements payable which is monies paid to the court fee service for issuing the claim. In a debt recovery case there is an issue fee payable to the Court to issue the claim, which does not attract VAT, but other disbursements can attract VAT such as fees payable to HM Land Registry to check addresses of the defendant, agents fees to investigate enforcement and photocopying charges.
The factors that can change within the range will include the complexity of the debt claimed and the amount of documentation in support of the debt.
This is the likely range of fees where the debt is not complex and no further detailed particulars of claim need to be provided in support of the debt claim. In cases of debts of greater complexity we will provide you with further details upon request. Our services do not include investigation of any counterclaim that may be made in the proceedings and if a counterclaim is made we will quote you a separate fee for dealing with any counterclaim.
The approximate court fees per range of value of your claim are as follows, where not using the money claim online system.
If money claim online is used then the Court fees will be slightly lower and details of this can be provided upon application.
| Value of Claim | Court Fee £ |
|---|---|
| Up to £300 | 35.00 |
| £300.01 to £500 | 50.00 |
| £500.01 to £1000 | 70.00 |
| £1000.01 to £1500 | 80.00 |
| £1500.01 to £3000 | 115.00 |
| £3000.01 to £5000 | 205.00 |
| £5000.01 to 10,000 | 455.00 |
| £10000.01 to £200,000 | 5% of value of claim |
| More than £200,000 | 10,000.00 |
Anyone wishing to proceed with the claim should note that:
- The VAT element of our fee cannot be reclaimed from your debtor
- Interest in compensation may take the debt into a higher banding with a higher cost
- The costs quoted above are not for matters were enforcement action such as the bailiff is needed to collect your debt
Our fee includes: taking your instructions and reviewing invoices and other documentation in connection with the claim, preparing letter before action, undertaking searches at the land registry and companies house to verify the defendant’s address for service.
Please note that enforcement action is not included within the range of fee set out above for which a separate quote will be given and if payment is not received there will be extra costs with advice on next steps and likely costs.
Matters usually take between 1 to 2 weeks from receipt of instructions from you to receipt of payment from the other side depending on whether or not it is necessary to issue a claim.
If a claim is required to be issued then the likely time scale from issuing a claim to Judgment is 6 to 8 weeks. Payment from the other side may follow after entry of Judgment. If enforcement action is required, the matter will take longer to resolve.
