Debt Recovery Pricing
Our Fees
We provide a range of fees for each type of debt recovery service.
- Letter before action
- Court proceedings
- Statutory demands
- Winding up petition/bankruptcy petition
If a lawyer deals with the case, the fees will generally be at the lower end of the range as we will endeavour where possible to allocate the appropriate level of lawyer, but sometimes a more senior lawyer is required. Where a more senior lawyer deals with the case, the fees will be at the higher end of the range.
Hourly rates which will apply are;
- Partners – £325-£400 plus VAT
- Solicitors – £175-£275 plus VAT
We will add VAT to the charge at the rate that applies when the work is done. At present VAT is 20%.
Letter before action
Our fee for a letter before action to recover a debt which is not disputed, where the debt is between £10,000 and £100,000 and where the debt is comprised within no more than 5 invoices will range from £525 to £1,200 plus VAT (£630 – £1,440 incl VAT). Our fee includes;
- Taking your instructions
- Calculating interest (and compensation if appropriate) that might be payable in relation to the debt.
- Sending the letter before action by first class post (including registered post where appropriate)
- Forwarding to you any response we receive to the letter before action
- If payment is made to this firm, accounting to you for any payment we receive (subject to an additional fee for bank charges below).
Our fee is on the basis that the information we need from you is provided in a clear to understand format, with copy invoices being provided and a statement of account being provided where there is more than one invoice outstanding or you have received a part payment. If the information you provide is unclear so that we have to take additional instructions from you to understand the information which has been provided, then this could increase the fee.
If the debt consists of more than five invoices, our fee will depend on how many invoices are outstanding as the work that needs to be done in calculating interest (and compensation if appropriate) will vary subject to the number of invoices which are outstanding and any part payments which may have been made.
Our fee does not include providing advice in relation to any response which is received.
If your debt consists of more than five invoices or is for more than £100,000 or the debtor is outside the UK, please speak with a member of the team.
Where the debt is less than £10,000 we have a fixed fee structure in place to assist with debt recovery. The fixed fee covers the initial letter before action and two chase up letters as follows:-
- Initial letter before action as per the Pre-Action Protocol for debt recovery. This is the first step and will set out the details of the debt. If the letter is issued to a business the deadline is 14 days for a response. If the letter is issued to an individual the deadline is 30 days for a response.
- If no response is received to the above, chaser letters are issued as follows:
- First chaser letter issued providing a further seven days for a business and 14 days for an individual;
- Final Notice letter issued allowing a final seven day deadline.
The fixed fees for the above is as follows:-
| Amount of Debt | Napthens Fixed Fee Charges |
| Debts up to £500 | £30 plus VAT |
| Debts £501 to £750 | £50 plus VAT |
| Debts £751 to £3,000 | £100 plus VAT |
| Debts £3,001 to £5,000 | £150 plus VAT |
| Debts £5,001 to £10,000 | £175 plus VAT |
| Any debts over £10,000 will be reviewed and a fixed fee agreed on an individual basis | TBA |
The above fixed fees are limited to the letter before action and two further chasers only.
If no response is received to either the letter before action/chase ups, then we would at that stage provide the client with their further options together with an estimate of costs.
Court Proceedings
If a debtor ignores a letter before action the most likely next step would be to issue court proceedings.
The costs set out below only apply where your claim is in relation to an unpaid invoice (s) and where the debt is for no more than £100,000, which is contained in no more than five invoices and where the debtor is not outside the UK. The costs only apply in relation to claims which are not disputed, where the Debtor hasn’t threatened a Counterclaim and where enforcement action is not required. If the other party disputes your claim at any point or raises a Counterclaim, then we will need to discuss fees with you as the fees set out below will no longer be relevant.
Our fee will range from £700 to £3,200 plus VAT (£840 – £3,840 Inc VAT), and there are disbursements payable. See below in relation to those disbursements. These fees do not include any Barrister’s fees but usually we will not need to engage a Barrister.
Our fees include:
- Taking your instructions
- Reviewing the invoices and the statement of account you provide
- If the other party is a company or Limited Liability Partnership, checking Companies House records to ensure the company or LLP is still trading and checking records to see whether a winding-up petition has been presented
- Calculating interest which might be payable and any compensation if appropriate
- Preparing a claim form and particulars of claim using our standard draft for debt recovery cases
- Arranging for the claim to be issued with the court
- Where no acknowledgement of service is received or defence filed and served, applying the court to enter a judgment in default
- Once the judgment in default is received, sending that to the other party and demanding payment
- If payment is made to this firm, accounting to you for any payment we receive (subject to an additional fee for bank charges as set out below)
- Updating you (by email) when the claim has been issued, when we apply for judgment in default, when the judgment in default is received and when any payment is received.
Our fee is on the basis that the information we need from you is provided in a clear to understand format, with copy invoices being provided and a statement of the account being provided where there is more than one invoice outstanding or you have received a part payment. If the information you provide is unclear so that we have to take additional instructions from you to understand the information which has been provided, then this could increase the fees you have to pay.
In addition, you will also be required to pay to the court a fee to issue the claim and the fee differs depending on the amount of the debt. Below are the court fees payable:
| Debt | Court fee |
| Up to £300 | £35 |
| £300 – £500 | £50 |
| £500 – £1,000 | £70 |
| £1,000 – £1,500 | £80 |
| £1,500 – £3,000 | £115 |
| £5,000 – £10,000 | £455 |
| £10,000 – £200,000 | 5% of claim |
It is important to note that interest and compensation (if appropriate) may take the debt into a higher bracket for the purposes of determining the court fee which is payable. We will confirm to you the court fee which is payable before the claim is issued.
Our fees do not include:
- Providing any advice to you should the debt become disputed at any point or if the debtor raises a counterclaim. In those circumstances, we will discuss fees with you
- Any work which you may instruct us to do in relation to the settlement of the debt for less than the sum which is due to you, including any without prejudice correspondence with the other party or their lawyers
- Any correspondence with the other party or their lawyers and with you in relation to when payment can be made, deferring payment or any correspondence or agreements in relation to accepting payment of the debt by instalments
- Taking instructions from you and providing advice on any enforcement action which might be needed if the other party does not pay the default judgement when obtained.
You should not assume that you will be able to recover all or part of the costs outlined above from the other party. Your lawyer will explain to you the extent to which costs may be recovered.
From our experience, cases generally take up to around 8-12 weeks from receipt of your instructions to obtaining a judgment in default. However, it is important to note that that this timescale can be affected by delays in the court office.
Statutory Demands
A statutory demand is a preliminary step to insolvency and can be an effective debt recovery tool. It requires payment of the debt within 21 days of the service of the statutory demand, and if the debt is not paid, that is evidence that the debtor is unable to pay their debts as they fall due and a bankruptcy or winding up petition may be issued.
A statutory demand can only be served on an individual if that individual owes more than £5,000 and on a company if it owes more than £750.
Our fees for dealing with the preparation of a statutory demand (where there are no more than five outstanding invoices) and arranging for service of that demand will be £700 to £1,200 plus VAT (£840 – £1,440 Inc VAT).
Our fees include:
- Taking your instructions
- Reviewing the invoices and the statement of account you provide
- If the other party is a company or Limited Liability Partnership, checking Companies House records to ensure the company or LLP is still trading and checking records to see whether a winding-up petition has been presented
- Calculating interest which might be payable and any compensation if appropriate
- Preparing the statutory demand
- Arranging for the statutory demand to be served
- If payment is made to this firm, accounting to you for any payment we receive
- Updating you (by email) when the statutory demand has been served and when any payment is received (subject to an additional fee for bank charges as set out below).
Generally, we recommend that the statutory demand is personally served by a process server. The agent’s fee for serving the statutory demand is estimated at up to around £180 plus VAT. The fee will be at the higher end of the range is the demand needs to be served urgently. Sometimes the fee may be higher than the sum estimated here if service proves difficult and where the process server needs to attend on multiple occasions.
Our fees do not include:
- Providing any advice to you should the debt become disputed at any point including any application made to set aside the demand or restrain presentation of the petition. If the debt becomes disputed, we will discuss fees with you
- Any work which you may instruct us to do in relation to the settlement of the debt for less than the sum which has been claimed, including any without prejudice correspondence with the other party or their lawyers
- Any correspondence with the other party or their lawyers and with you in relation to when payment can be made, deferring payment or any correspondence or agreements in relation to accepting payment of the debt by instalments.
From our experience, cases generally take around four to five weeks from receipt of your instructions to the date by which payment under the statutory demand should be made, assuming there are no difficulties with service of the statutory demand.
Winding up petition/bankruptcy petition
If the debtor fails to pay following service of a statutory demand and you decide to issue a petition, our fees for arranging issue and service of the petition and arranging for representation at the hearing are likely to be in the region of £2,000 to £3,500 plus VAT (£2,400 – £4,200 Inc VAT). This is on the basis that a statutory demand has been served, that the petition is not being resisted, there is no attempt by the debtor to avoid service of the petition and only one hearing is required.
Our fees include:
- Taking your instructions
- If the other party is a company or Limited Liability Partnership, checking Companies House records to ensure the company or LLP is still trading and checking records to see whether a winding-up petition has been presented
- If the other party is an individual, undertaking a search of the bankruptcy register maintained by the Land Charges Register
- Preparing the petition and supporting witness statement
- Arranging for the petition to be issued with the court
- Arranging for personal service of the petition by an agent
- Filing the certificate of service
- Advertising petition in the London Gazette
- Instructing counsel to attend the hearing
- Preparing and filing a certificate of compliance for a winding-up petition or a certificate of continuing debt for a bankruptcy petition
- Preparing and filing list/notice of appearances
- If payment is made to this firm, accounting to you for any payment we receive (subject to an additional fee for bank charges as set out below)
- Updating you (by email) when the petition has been issued and on the outcome of the hearing.
Our fees do not include:
Providing any advice to you should the debt become disputed at any point including any application to restrain advertisement of the petition. If the debt becomes disputed, we will discuss fees with you
Any work which you may instruct us to do in relation to settlement of the debt for less than the sum which has been claimed, including any without prejudice correspondence with the other party or their lawyers
Any correspondence with the other party or their lawyers and with you in relation to when payment can be made, deferring payment or any correspondence or agreements in relation to accepting payment of the debt by instalments
Also, you will also be required to pay to the court a fee to issue the petition, and other disbursements and expenses as set out below.
Disbursements and Expenses
- Search fees £12
- Court fee on the issue of the petition £302
- Official Receiver’s deposit payable on issue of the petition £2,600 for a winding-up petition or £1,500 for a bankruptcy petition
- Agent’s fee for serving the petition estimated at £90-£140 plus VAT. The fee will be at the higher end of the range if the petition needs to be served urgently. Sometimes the fee may be higher than the sum estimated here if service proves difficult
- For winding up only, London Gazette advertising fee payable after issue of petition £64.25 plus VAT
- Counsel’s fees for attending the hearing are generally no more than £500 plus VAT depending on counsel used. We are very often able to secure counsel to attend at much lower rates.
Bank Charges
In all cases, if we do receive a payment from the other party and you would like us to transfer that to your bank account, there will be a bank transfer administration fee payable of £35 plus VAT or £100 plus VAT if the payment is to be made to a bank outside the UK. There is no charge if you prefer payment to be sent to you by cheque.
Who will be dealing with my matter?
Your matter will be dealt with a trusted member of our experienced Debt Recovery team under the supervision of one of our partners. We’ll introduce you to them at the outset and provide you with details of the qualification and experience, meet the team.
