Dispute Resolution

Late payment of invoices and unrecovered debts are major problems for most businesses.  This can lead to significant cash flow and profitability issues which if left unresolved can threaten the survival and/or growth of your business.

We offer a streamlined service and a fixed fee package for the recovery of your debts where your claim is in relation to an unpaid invoice providing that the invoice is not disputed. Please note that any enforcement action required after the successful conclusion of court proceedings will be at additional cost to the fixed fees quoted below.

The first stage in attempting to recover your debt is to send the debtor a letter of claim. Realistically, the debtor has 3 options at this stage:

1. To pay in full - If payment in full is simply received following the letter of claim then we will limit our fee to £50.00 (excl. VAT).
2. To dispute the debt - If the other party raises a dispute at any point, then we will assess the points in dispute together with you and advise you on your further options. If the debt is disputed then your case will no longer fall within our undisputed debt collection fixed fee scheme and your will be provided with further costs estimates for the options available to you.
3. To fail to respond - If the debtor fails to respond to the letter of claim at all, then the claim will be issued at Court.   If there is no response after issue, then we will ask the Court to grant you Judgment in default against the debtor. If the debtor still fails to pay upon receiving a County Court Judgement (CCJ) then we will advise you upon the enforcement options available to you and the costs that entails to pursue the debtor further.

Our Charges:

Our fixed fee includes:

• Taking your instructions and reviewing any documentation
• Undertaking appropriate searches
• Sending a letter before action
• If payment is not received, providing you with advice on next steps  
• 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, writing to the other side to request payment

Exclusions:

• The VAT element of our fee cannot be reclaimed from your debtor.
• Any enforcement action is outside the scope of our fixed fee service.

It is difficult to estimate how long it will take to recover the monies from your debtor as there are so many variables which can interfere with the recovery process such as the solvency of the debtor, the conduct of the debtor and whether any formal legal action is required.

In most cases, it takes up to 4 weeks from receipt of instructions to receive payment from the other side providing no dispute is raised and legal proceedings do not become necessary.  If, however, it becomes necessary to issue a claim, then it may take a further 8 weeks to obtain a judgement in your favour.

If the claim is disputed or enforcement action is required after Judgment in default has been obtained, the matter will inevitably take longer to resolve.

Please do not hesitate to contact one of our team to discuss your debt collection requirements further.

• County Court
• Enforcement
• Insolvency
• Unpaid Invoices