DEBT RECOVERY FEES

At Curwens, our team of experts can assist you in the recovery of money you are owed. We offer support and advice to suit your needs and which is specific to your claim.

To assist you in recovering your debt, we have come up with competitive fixed prices to make the process easier for you whilst costing you as little as possible.

Letter before Action

• Fixed Price of £60 plus VAT - Total £72

If debtor still doesn’t pay, then you can proceed to the next stage of issuing court proceedings. We set out below our fixed fees for preparing the claim for issuing at court on your behalf together with the court fees applicable which are dependent on the amount of the debt due.

Small Claims Track (Claims up to £10,000)

Issuing claims at Court

Request for Judgement - £80 plus VAT - Total £96

If the debtor does not respond to the claim within 14 days after the claim has been issued, then you can apply for judgment to be entered for you.

Debts between £10,000 and £200,000

The court fee is 5% of the claim and our charging rates would be on an hourly basis, which range from £150 to £400 per hour depending upon the seniority and the experience of the staff involved.

Debts over £200,000

The court fee Is £10,000, and our charging rates would be on an hourly basis, which range from £150 to £400 per hour depending upon the seniority and the experience of the staff involved.

Enforcement

Should your debt still be outstanding after you have obtained judgment in your favour, then we can assist you by completing the paperwork required for the following enforcement methods. We will advise you of the most appropriate one to use on your case.

1. Instructing High Court Enforcement Agents (for debts over £600) – our fee: £100 plus VAT – Total £120 (plus disbursements of £71 for court fee & HCE fee of £90 is payable if the warrant is not successful)

2. Instructing County Court Enforcement Agents – our fees are £100 plus VAT – Total £120 (plus court fee of £110)

3. Issuing a Statutory Demand - our fees are £250 plus VAT – Total £300(plus process server fees which can be up to £150 plus VAT – Total £180)

4. Bankruptcy Proceedings – our fees are £1,000 plus VAT – Total £1,200 plus the following disbursements

• Court fee £302
• Deposit - £1,500
• Process server – up to £150 plus VAT
• Search fee - £15
• Agent’s fees for hearing – depends on location and will be advised in advance

5. Winding Up Proceedings - £1,500 plus VAT – Total £1500 plus the following disbursements

• Court fee - £302
• Deposit - £2,600
• Process server – up to £150 plus VAT
• Agent’s fees for hearing – dependent on location
• Advert fees for London Gazette - £101.52

6. Charging Order - £500 plus VAT – Total £600, plus the following

• Court fee - £119
• Registration of charging order - £40
• Agent’s fees for hearing – dependent on location
• Search fee - £15

7. Third party debt order - our fees are £350 plus VAT – Total £420 (plus court fee of £119 and agent’s fees for hearing dependent on location that will be advised in advance)

8. Attachment of Earnings Order - our fees are £250 plus VAT – Total £300 (plus court fee of £119)

Please note that the above fixed fees are only applicable to undefended debt claims. If the matter becomes defended then this will be out of our prompt pay scheme and we will be charging on an hourly rate which will be advised to you as soon as practicable.

Please also note that generally legal fees are unrecoverable by the debtor if the matter is a small claim, i.e. a debt of up to £10,000.

Anyone wishing to proceed with a claim should note that:

• The VAT element of our fee cannot be reclaimed from your debtor.
• Interest and compensation may take the debt into a higher banding, with a higher cost.
• The costs quoted above are not for matters where enforcement action, such as the bailiff, is needed to collect your debt.

Our fee includes:

• Taking your instructions and reviewing documentation
• Undertaking appropriate searches
• Sending a letter before action
• Receiving payment and sending onto you, or if the debt is not paid, drafting and issuing claim
• Where no Acknowledgment of Service or Defence is received, applying to the court to enter Judgement in default
• When Judgement in default in received, write to the other side to request payment
• If payment is not received within 28 days or longer if provided by judgment, providing you with advice on the next steps and likely costs

Matters usually take 4 to 36 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. This is on the basis that the other side pays promptly on receipt of Judgement in default. If enforcement action is needed, the matter will take longer to resolve.

VAT would be at applicable at the current rate of 20%.

Exclusions

These fees apply only to cases where an unpaid invoice is being pursued, i.e. debt collection. All other County Court actions may attract different fees. Our fees are fixed and include items detailed above, however there may be factors which would typically increase the cost of the fees. Where there is likely to be any additional cost, we will make sure you are informed of this at the earliest opportunity and a clear estimate of those extra costs will be provided.

Factors that may lead to an increase in cost include:

• Enforcement proceedings
• Instructing a Bailiff

The Hourly Fees that Debt Recovery Team charge is based upon their seniority and experience:

Alan Carter - £400 p/h

Sara Alili - £300 p/h

Asher Bennett - £150 p/h

Liam Rochford - £150 p/h

VAT will be added at 20%

For further information on Debt Recovery please contact our team.