Debt Recovery Charges

Debt Recovery Costs Information

Pricing information (on a no collection no fee basis)
	8 - 10% +VAT at 20% 8% of recovered debts over £10,000, or 10% of recovered debts of £10,000 or less
	30 - 60 days Claims settled before court proceedings, from instruction to receiving payment. See below for timescales when court proceedings are issued.
	Meet the team

We think it is very important for clients to be able to choose how much support they require from us and the associated costs involved in receiving that support.

Why choose VWV?

Our Debt Recovery team is led by two partners and comprises lawyers with different specialisms and levels of experience, to ensure that your needs are met by those who have the most appropriate level of expertise.

We collectively have many years of debt recovery experience. We regularly deal with a wide range of matters, from straightforward contractual debts through to high value and complex debts, some of which are, for example, specific to a specialist sector or involve an international element.
How we can help

We can advise or provide you with any of the following depending on your requirements.

• Asset pre-sue reports
• Full trace reports
• Employment reports
• Company check reports
• Data enhancement
• Various debt collection options
• Pre legal collection cycle
• National and International debt collection
• Serving letters before action
• Legal proceedings
• Obtaining and enforcing judgments, including bankruptcy and winding-up procedures
Our approach to pricing

We provide choice and flexibility to our clients.

We provide a competitive and best-value proposition in support of a focused commercial approach, with a large proportion of our fees being charged as a percentage of the debts that we recover.
Recovery before proceedings have been issued

Our commercial debt recovery work, prior to issuing proceedings, is largely done on a no collection no fee basis, designed to save you money from the outset. If we are successful at this stage, our typical charges are:

• 10% of any monies recovered for debts of £10,000 or under plus VAT at 20%
• 8% of any monies recovered for debts of over £10,000 plus VAT at 20%
• £60 plus VAT at 20% per unpaid invoice for drafting and sending the Letter Before Action

However, this will depend on the nature and number of those debts.
Recovery after proceedings issued (uncontested)

If after serving the Letter Before Action we have not received payment and we commence proceedings in the small claims track, which remain undefended (and are not in some other way complex), we will charge solicitors' fixed costs plus VAT at 20% and disbursements. The fixed costs are as follows:

• Claims of £25-£500 - £50
• Claims of £500.01 - £1,000 - £70
• Claims of £1,000.01 - £5,000 - £80
• Claims over £5,000 - £100
Recovery after proceedings issued (contested)

If we commence proceedings for you on a matter that is or becomes defended, or has other factors that we agree with you make it complex, such as an overseas debtor, high value debt, or requiring services that are outside the scope of those listed on page 3, we may charge on the basis of a blended hourly rate of £150 per hour (plus VAT at the prevailing rate) across all lawyers and estimate the costs based on the amount of time we think the matter will take. We will not charge you on the basis of a percentage of the debts that we recover. We will set out all of the rates and the estimates in our letter of engagement prior to acting for you so that each client authorises our costs at the outset and we will provide regular costs updates for approval as the case proceeds.
Administration fee

Once we are instructed, we shall be remunerated for any recovery which is made prior to court proceedings whether the debtor makes payment directly to you or to us.

Should a matter be referred to us, either only to establish that the debtor had already made a payment to you, or because we should not be pursuing the debtor as there is no outstanding debt to collect, or because you have instructed us and then later close or withdraw the matter, we will charge an administration fee of £50 plus VAT at 20%. This will be to cover the account set-up cost, issue warning letters and/or deal with emails and telephone calls.
Disbursements (not included in fee estimates)

In addition to our fees, other costs will arise during the matter that are payable to third parties. These costs are called 'disbursements' and are likely to include court fees (which are typically charged as 5% of the debt claimed), Land Registry search fees of £15 per search, tracing fees (which range from £10 plus VAT at 20% for a basic individual trace to £75 plus VAT at 20% for a pre-sue report), process serving of £90 plus VAT at 20%, or counsel fees.

We will keep you updated on these expenses throughout the matter and let you know in advance before they are incurred. We will also inform you if additional exceptional expenses are required.
Timescales

At the outset of a matter it can be difficult to predict timescales, as much depends on whether the other party decide to contest the debt and whether or not it is necessary to issue a claim.

A claim that is settled before proceedings are issued usually takes 30 - 60 days from receiving initial instructions to receiving payment.

If we commence proceedings and they remain undefended, the claim may take 6 - 9 weeks from receiving initial instructions to receiving payment.

These timescales cover the services listed below only. We will provide you with a more accurate timescale once we have more information and update you as the matter progresses.

Debt Recovery Services

The fees set out above for the work prior to issuing court proceedings includes the following services:

taking your instructions and reviewing documentation
undertaking appropriate searches
sending a letter before action
receiving payment and sending on to you.

If payment is not received, a claim will need to be issued. This will include the following services:

drafting and issuing the claim form
applying to the court to enter judgment in default
when Judgment in default is received, writing to the other side to request payment
if payment is not received within 7 days, providing you with advice on next steps and likely costs.

The range of costs shown above does not include the following additional services, and we will provide a separate fee estimate for these services, should you require them: