The Debt Recovery Package for Uncontested Debts
Letter before action
We are happy to issue letters before action without charge but will instead take a percentage share of the debt recovered. The percentages we will receive, inclusive of VAT are as follows: -
£1.00 to £250.00 - 25%
£251.00 to £500.00 - 15%
£501.00 to £1,000.00 - 10%
£1,001.00 to £2,500.00 - 5%
£2,501.00 to £5,000.00 - 4%
£5,000.01 and above - 3%
Some Clients, particularly those with very large debts do not find it advantageous to employ our "No Win - No Fee" service for letters before action. In those circumstances we are happy to individually negotiate the cost of a letter before action.
What happens if recovery is not made following a letter before action?
If recovery is not made following the issue of a letter before action then the next step will be to issue a Claim Form, probably in the local County Court. In the event of doing this, not only will the invoice sum be claimed but, in addition, a claim will be made for statutory or contractual interest, fixed Solicitors' costs on issue and the Court issue fee that is payable to the Court. Where debts are business-to-business debts, statutory compensatory costs may also be claimed.
Flint Bishop Solicitors offer a standard debt recovery package, details of which are set out below. Depending on the volume of debt recovery that you require, we are always happy to negotiate individual packages to suit your needs, including a discount on rates.
If it becomes necessary to issue proceedings in a County Court what will the charges be?
If proceedings are issued in the County Court then the claim will include all the items set out above, eg, Court issue fee and statutory or contractual interest. If the debt is paid in full then the debtor will, in addition to paying the original invoice sum, also reimburse you for the Court fee paid and also pay the fixed Solicitors' costs on issue and statutory or contractual interest. In these circumstances we would keep the fixed Solicitors' costs on issue in payment of our fees plus a percentage of the monies recovered according to the scale set out above under the heading "letter before action". In the event that no recovery is made then our charges will be limited to the fixed Solicitors' costs on issue. Examples of how the Scheme works are set out below: -
Example One
On a debt of £600.00, letter before action issued and payment received promptly - our charges would be £60.00 including VAT.
Example Two
On a debt of £1,400.00, if payment is not received following the sending of a letter
before action necessitating the issue of Court proceedings, then the costs will be as follows:-
Court issue fee (payable to Court) - £120.00
Fixed Solicitors' costs on issue - £80.00
In this example, if the debt was paid in full we would be entitled to keep the fixed Solicitors'
costs on issue of £80.00, which we recovered from the Debtor. In addition, we would be entitled
to £70.00 including VAT for our success in recovering the debt.
Example Three
On a debt of £4,800.00, if recovery were made immediately following the issue of a letter before action then our charges would be £192.00 including VAT (not recoverable from the debtor).
Example Four
On a debt of £4,800.00, if recovery is not made following the letter before action
necessitating the issue of Court proceedings then the costs would be as follows:-
Court issue fee (payable to Court) - £120.00
Fixed Solicitors' costs on issue - £80.00
In the event that recovery of the debt is made in full after the issue of the proceedings,
then our costs will amount to the Solicitors' fixed costs on issue of £80.00 (recovered
from the debtor) plus a percentage fee for our success in recovery of the debt amounting
to £192.00 which is not recoverable from the debtor.
In addition to the above, further details in relation to the progress of a case and the costs of such action are set out in our guide to debt recovery page, or alternatively contact our team to discuss your individual requirements.
Flint Bishop Solicitors
St Michael's Court
St Michael's Lane
Derby
DE1 3HQ
Tel: 01332 226 150
Fax: 0870 191 8679
Email: debtrecovery@flintbishop.co.uk
Nottingham Office:
Flint Bishop Solicitors
The Atrium
20 Wollaton Street
Nottingham
NG1 5FW
Tel: 0115 964 4450
Fax: 0115 950 8422
Email: debtrecovery@flintbishop.co.uk