Debt Recovery
Austin & Carnley’s fixed fee service is highly cost effective, yet still enables us to apply our personalised approach to legal support. Our objective is to undertake the necessary actions to recover your money as quickly as possible and respond swiftly to developments as they happen. Our service is broken down into four stages set out below.
The costs for this service are best described in the context of the four-stage, debt-recovery journey. We also provide details of any disbursements you need to pay which are the additional fees payable to third parties such as Court fees.
STAGE 1 – DEBT RECOVERY PRE-ACTION
Once we understand the value and circumstances of the debt, we can identify the financial viability of pursuing it. To do this, we will carry out a brief review of the debt and an investigation into the debtor that owes you money.
The next step is to prepare and send a ‘letter before action’ to the debtor on your behalf. This is a formal letter that observes Court rules and imposes a fixed deadline for payment. The letter is a legal requirement before Court proceedings can be started as it gives the non-payer time to settle the outstanding sum.
The fee for preparing the letter before action is £30 + VAT at 20%. The additional disbursement costs are detailed below.
How long will it take: From receipt of instructions, we aim to send out the letter before action within 3 working days.
STAGE 2 – COURT PROCEEDINGS
If the debtor fails to respond or pay within 14 days of receiving our letter, you can begin court proceedings.
For this stage, the fees and disbursements are set out below and depend on the size of the debt and whether the claim can be sent to the court online or by post:
Please note that Court fees are subject to change by the Government, sometimes at short notice. We will always charge these at the current rates. If the exact value of the claim is not known the court papers must be posted.
How long will it take:
From receipt of instructions we aim to issue court proceedings in approximately two weeks.
STAGE 3 – OBTAINING JUDGMENT
This next phase covers obtaining a County Court Judgment if the Defendant fail to respond to the claim in time; responds to the claim, acknowledging service indicating an intention to defend the claim but does not file a defence within the required timescale; or responds to the claim to admit the debt (including any payment offers).
Our fees for requesting the court judgement are as follows:
If the debtor disputes the claim, we will reassess the situation and advise you on the best course of action, and the associated costs. In these circumstances the matter will not be dealt with on this fixed fee scheme.
How long will it take:
From receipt of instructions to applying for a county court judgment, will typically take approximately one week.
STAGE 4 – ENFORCEMENT
This phase covers what we can do if the debtor does not pay the county court judgment. The debtor has 14 days from the judgment date to make the payment.
How long will it take:
This depends on the enforcement option chosen. Typically the application for any of the enforcement steps set out above will take between 2 – 8 weeks but possibly longer subject to court availability. We cannot say when or if any method will result in payment.
WHO WILL UNDERTAKE THE WORK?
Simon Peacock, Employment, Family & Dispute Resolution Solicitor. Click here to see Simon’s profile.