Debt Recovery Charges

Moss & Coleman regularly work with business and individual clients to recover debts they are owed.  

In respect of straightforward debt recovery work we are able to provide details of set fees below.  These details all assume that the debtor is based in England and Wales and that the claim you have  is subject to English law.  

Please note that our fixed fee service only applies to straightforward debts, such as outstanding  invoices for goods that you have supplied. If your case is not a straightforward debt claim, your case  may require a more detailed set of proceedings to be prepared.  

If your claim is of a more complex and/or disputed nature, it might therefore fall outside of the  scope of our fixed fee debt collection service altogether. If that is the case, we can still assist you – we have an experienced team of litigators and wide ranging experts who we regularly call upon. If a  case is not appropriate for our debt collection team, the charges set out below will not apply to your  case but our litigation team would be more than happy to provide you with a detailed costs  estimate.  

Initial Work  

We offer all clients an initial review of the relevant paperwork which will be accompanied by a  discussion and general advice given on a face to face or remote (telephone or zoom) basis. Our  hourly rates vary according to the solicitor acting and will be on average £275+ VAT per hour. In  most cases we would expect and initial review to take between 1 and 2 hours and to cost between  £275 and £550 plus VAT.  

Our fee includes:  

• Taking your instructions from you and reviewing any relevant documentation;  
• Calculating the total amount you are able to claim, including interest and any statutory  compensation;  
• Providing advice on prospects of success and the prospects of actually recovering payment where  suitable information is immediately available.  

Our fees does not include:  

• Providing advice in different formats (for example meeting with you and then confirming our  advice in writing);  
• Carrying out any investigations or research;  
• Writing to the debtor;  
• Obtaining Counsel’s or expert advice; 

Should you wish for us to take a debt claim forward  

Once advice has been given the further steps will involve contacting the debtor. The next stage will  involve:  

• Preparing and sending a letter of claim to your debtor;  
• Receiving payment and sending onto you; and  
• If payment is not received within 14 days (for a business debtor) or 30 days (for an individual  debtor) providing you with advice on the next steps and the costs you are likely to incur if you decide  to take those next steps.  

Depending on the circumstances we might for example advise you to issue a county court claim  against your debtor or commence insolvency proceedings. Alternatively, there might be a dispute  and we will tell you what steps need to be taken (and the costs involved) to investigate and deal with  that dispute.  

We would expect this element to take between 45 minutes and 1.5 hours and to cost between  approximately £200 and £400 plus VAT.  

Our fee does not include:  

• Settlement negotiations;  
• Dealing with any disputes or correspondence received in response from your debtor;  • Providing interim updates or progress reports; and  
• Issuing court proceedings, obtaining Judgment or undertaking enforcement action.  

How long will it take?  

If you are a business:  

• A letter of claim sent to a company or partnership will allow a 7-14 day response period;  
• Under the Debt Pre-Action Protocol, if you are a business a letter of claim sent to an individual,  including a sole trader, must allow a minimum period of 30 days for a response. In some instances,  further time may need to be allowed  

 If you are an individual:  

• A reasonable period of time is considered to be 7-14 days. Issue of proceedings  

Settlement Discussions 

If your debtor takes issue with liability for payment or makes proposals for payment, then you will  wish to discuss this. All matters are different, however we would expect this element to take less  than 3 hours (£825 plus VAT). By the time that this level of work has been undertaken your matter  will likely have settled or you will need to consider litigation. 

Court Proceedings  

To issue a claim in the county court, we will charge you a fixed fee as set out below. In addition, you  will have to pay the applicable court fee. The amount of the court fee is set by the government and  is subject to change from time to time. The fees as set out below, are current as of August 2020. The  total amount you will have to pay is dependent upon the size of the debt you want to collect. These  fees and costs are in addition to our pre-issue costs described above. They rely upon this firm being  

able to draft a short factual set of proceedings and not being required to deal with any disputed  issues which may have arisen in pre-issue correspondence.

All claims for over £100,000 will be considered on a case by case basis.  

Should you wish to proceed with a claim please note the following key information:  

• The VAT element of our fee is not recoverable through court proceedings (if you are VAT  registered);  
• In addition to your debt, you might be able to add interest and compensation to the amount  claimed from the debtor. Any interest and compensation you charge may take the debt into a higher  banding and may attract higher costs; and  
• The above costs only relate to the cost of commencing court proceedings and entering Judgment  if the debtor does not reply. Further costs may be incurred if you wish to take enforcement action,  for example, to instruct a bailiff or obtain a charging order. 

Our fee includes:  

• Drafting the Claim Form and Particulars of Claim;  
• Presenting the claim at court for issue and service;  
• Receiving payment and sending on to you; and  
• If payment is not received within 14 days of the service of the Claim (28 days where an  Acknowledgement of Service is filed by the debtor) providing you with advice as to the next steps  and likely costs. This might involve entering judgment in default or seeking summary judgment for  example.  
• Updating you as to service and the periods by which the debtor is required to respond.  

Our fee does not include:  

• Attending to service of the Claim where it is not possible for the court to do so, for example, if the  debtor is residing outside of England and Wales;  
• Dealing with any Acknowledgement of Service or Defence that is filed by the debtor;  • Settlement negotiations; and  
• Dealing with any disputes and/or additional correspondence received from the debtor.  

How long will it take?  

The process will vary depending upon the nature and complexity of the case. Generally, it will take  between 3-6 weeks for a claim to be issued at court, served upon the debtor and for the debtor to  file a response to your claim (should they choose to do so). If an Acknowledgement of Service is filed  by the debtor, they will be allowed an additional 14 days to respond thereby extending these  timescales. If a defence is filed, you would be advised fully as to anticipated timescales based upon  the individual facts of your case.  

Once you have issued a claim, if the debtor does not respond we can ask the Court to enter  judgment without the need for a hearing to take place. In these circumstances, judgment can usually  be obtained within 3-6 weeks of the proceedings being issued (though the timing is dependent on  the Court).  

Enforcement proceedings  

Once we have obtained judgment against the debtor, you might want to take steps to enforce the  judgment if the debtor still does not pay. The cost involved in doing that varies depending on the  method of enforcement:  

Should you wish to proceed with enforcement please note the following key information:  

• The VAT element of our fee is not recoverable through enforcement proceedings (if you are VAT  registered); and  
• Only part of the main element of our fees are recoverable from the debtor this in some cases only  a very small sum might be awarded. The remainder of the costs cannot be recovered from the  debtor, however you will remain liable for all of our costs regardless of whether those costs are  recoverable from the debtor.  

Our fees include:  

• Making enquiries/searches in relation to what assets you debtor owns and what their income is;  
• Advising you as to viability of enforcement action and which method may result in the best  prospect of recovery;  
• Completing the enforcement application request;  
• Liaising with HM Land Registry, if so required;  
• Liaising with the court as necessary;  
• Liaising with you as to payment made:  
• Submitting the enforcement application to court and monitoring receipt of the initial order;  • Dealing with service of the court order, if so required;  
• Registration at HM Land Registry, if so required;  
• Providing you with a copy court order and providing regular updates; and  • Receiving payment and sending onto you;  

Our fees do not include:  

• Settlement negotiations;  
• Attending court should the court list a hearing;  
• Dealing with any applications made by the debtor to set aside Judgment and/or to stay  enforcement; and  
• Dealing with disputes, any additional correspondence raised by the debtor and/or contested  applications. 

How long will enforcement action take?  

This will be largely dependent upon the method of enforcement you use and/or is suitable to your  case. It can take in the region of 2-9 weeks, on average, to go through the process. Please note  enforcing a charging order by sale is a claim in itself and will take considerably longer.  

Defended/disputed cases  

The costs set out above are what it will cost you to bring county court proceedings where the debtor  does not dispute your claim. If a matter is disputed at the outset (or it becomes disputed as the case  progresses), we will not charge you all of the fixed fees set out above. The fixed fees will apply up to  the point your claim becomes disputed and for the remainder of the work we will instead charge you  an hourly rate. The hourly rate we charge you will depend on who is dealing with the case and their  experience.  

The applicable hourly rates will be between £165 plus VAT (for a trainee solicitor) through to  £330.00 plus VAT for work undertaken by a partner.  

As each defended case will vary according to the issues raised, upon a case being defended or  disputed, a member of the team will provide you with a detailed estimate based on the hourly rate  charges and the time that we anticipate it will take for your case to reach trial. Who will deal with  your case  

The team is managed, and supervised, by David Berry, a director who undertakes work on complex  or disputed cases.  

Recoverability of costs  

Where possible we will claim the above costs and court fees from your debtor in addition to the  debt. In most instances the fixed costs and court fees are recoverable, however, the VAT element of  our fees and expenses might not be recoverable from your debtor.  

Fees and costs in excess of the fixed costs and court fees might not be recoverable from your debtor.  The Late Payment of Commercial Debt Regulations (Interest) Acts of 1998 and 2013 also allow  creditors to charge interest on some outstanding debts at 8% above the Bank of England base rate  and compensation of up to £100 (dependent upon the value of the debt) per debt. Where applicable  we will also seek to recover this from the debtor. Please note that interest and compensation might  take your debt into a higher fee banding. You will also have to pay our costs regardless of whether  our costs are recoverable from the debtor.  

VAT Rate 

The rate of VAT currently applicable is 20%