Brown Holliday & Clements is highly experienced in debt recovery. We have assisted a range of individual, sole trader and commercial creditors, and have expertise in relation to invoice debt recovery, loan recovery and other commercial debt recovery services.
The cost of our services will often depend on the nature of the debt and the debtor, and whether the debtor disputes your claim for payment.
This note covers:
- our services and fees for undisputed debt recovery work
- our services and fees for disputed debt claims
- who in our team can assist you
- general points to be aware of debt recovery claims
Undisputed debts
We offer the following services when you are a business and your claim relates to a debt which is undisputed, where no Court proceedings or enforcement action (for example, instructing a bailiff to recover the debt) have started and where the debt is equal to or less than £100,000.
Services included
- Taking your instructions and review of documentation
- Undertaking appropriate searches (such as company and credit searches regarding the debtor, and instructing tracing searches if necessary)
- Preparing and sending an appropriate letter before claim setting out your claim to the debtor
Fees
We charge on an hourly rate basis for our costs and depending on the complexity our costs (excluding disbursements) could range between £1,000 plus 20% VAT (on the basis that matters are concluded swiftly with minimal work required) to £10,000 plus 20% VAT (on the basis that matters are not resolved smoothly and consideration is required to proceed to trial) though we would provide you with a bespoke estimate tailored to your matter. The costs of any third party services, such as specialist counsel and process servers, would be charged in addition to our fees, as external disbursements of the firm.
Our team’s hourly rates range from £150 plus 20% VAT to £475 plus 20% VAT as set out for each fee earner (see below).
We charge a compliance fee per instruction which can cost anywhere between £12.50 – £150 plus 20% VAT depending on the number of parties to check and complexity of work involved.
Please note that 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 claim
- 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 Judgment in Default
- When Judgment in Default in received, write to the other side to request payment
- If payment is not received normally within 14 days, providing you with advice on next steps, enforcement options and likely costs
How long will this take?
In a debt instruction, matters might take between 2 – 8 weeks from receipt of your instructions to receipt of payment from the debtor, in terms of the initial work in investigating and preparing pre-action correspondence. This may vary substantially if it is difficult to trace the debtor, or we need to take more detailed instructions from you in complex cases. If a Court claim is needed, the process would be longer and depend on the Court administration and listings. If enforcement action is needed, the matter will inevitably take longer to resolve.
What will happen if the debt is disputed?
In that case, your debt recovery claim will become disputed, and, in that eventuality, service and price information is set out in the next section.
Disputed debt claims
If the debtor raises defences to try to avoid paying the debt in response to the letter before action we write, we will discuss with you the further work required and, if necessary, provide you with information about our costs of contested debt recovery proceedings.
Services included
You will need additional services at that stage, including:
- advice on funding litigation proceedings at court, the risk of being ordered to pay the debtor’s costs if your claim fails and the availability of insurance and third party funding
- drafting proceedings, possibly with the assistance of specialist counsel
- issuing a claim in court
- managing and running a court claim to trial
- attending trial and representing you in court
- enforcement work to recover sums made at any order resulting from trial
Fees
The process of contested litigation will incur additional costs:
- We will charge on the basis of our hourly rates (see below), plus disbursements such as counsel, process servers and the court’s fees
- The court’s fee to issue a claim, which for a claim exceeding £10,000 will be 5% of the value of the claim up to a maximum of £10,000. The court also charges hearing fees if there is a trial
- The costs of specialist counsel, if appropriate. These vary and we would agree those with you before proceeding with an instruction
- Instructing process servers to find and serve Court documents on debtors if necessary
- The costs of enforcement agents to recover sums under order as a result of a trial or other hearing
We will always seek to ensure our fees are proportionate to the debt you seek to recover
Fees
We charge on an hourly rate basis for our costs and depending on the complexity of your matter and the length of time it will take to resolve your matter, our costs (excluding disbursements) could range between £1,000 to £50,000 plus 20% VAT though we would provide you with a bespoke estimate tailored to your matter. The costs of any third party services, such as specialist counsel and process servers, would be charged in addition to our fees as external disbursements of the firm.
The process of contested litigation will incur additional costs:
- We will charge on the basis of our hourly rates (see below), plus disbursements such as counsel, process servers and the court’s fees
- The court’s fee to issue a claim, which for a claim exceeding £10,000 will be 5% of the value of the claim up to a maximum of £10,000. The court also charges hearing fees if there is a trial
- The costs of specialist counsel, if appropriate. These vary and we would agree those with you before proceeding with an instruction
- Instructing process servers to find and serve Court documents on debtors if necessary
- The costs of enforcement agents to recover sums under order as a result of a trial or other hearing
We will always seek to ensure our fees are proportionate to the debt you seek to recover
How long do disputed debt claims take?
If court action is required, then the matter will take longer to resolve, the timeframe is largely dependent on the Court’s timetable and availability but may take between 6 and 12 months.
Who will handle my case?
We have highly-skilled and qualified staff. They include:
- Milton Silverman, Partner, current hourly charge out rate: £450 plus 20% VAT
- Gregory Ostroff, Partner, current hourly rate: £375 plus 20% VAT (over 10 years qualified)
- Satbir Singh Choudry, Partner, current hourly charge out rate: £450 plus 20% VAT (over 8 years qualified)
- Danielle Woodhouse, Senior Associate, current hourly charge out rate: £365 plus VAT (over 8 years qualified)
- Nick Waldron, Solicitor, current hourly charge out rate: £315 plus 20% VAT (over 2 years qualified)
- Andrew Roth, Solicitor, current hourly charge out rate: £275 plus 20% VAT (over 1 year qualified)
- Grace Normoyle, Trainee solicitor, current hourly rate: £215 plus 20% VAT
- Paralegals, current hourly rate: £150-£175 plus 20% VAT
Points to be aware of in respect of recovering your legal costs
- If your debt is for a figure below £10,000 then recovery of your legal costs is limited to Court fees and fixed solicitors fees of £72 – £195
- If you are successful in your claim for a value over £10,000 then you may be entitled to recover a proportion of your legal costs from the debtor
- You cannot reclaim any VAT element of our fees from your debtor
Brown Holliday & Clements
January 2025
