Debt Recovery Pricing
TW Collect – Fixed Fee Structure
England & Wales only [1]
Note:The costs estimates include VAT at the current rate of 20%. In the event that there is a change in the rate of VAT, our costs estimates will be amended accordingly.
Team Members and Supervision
The specialist debt recovery team (TW Collect) is led by Saljuq Haider, who is a Partner in the Commercial Litigation Department and listed as Rising Star in the 2020 edition of the Legal 500 and a Next Generation Partner in the 2021 edition.
Your matter would be dealt with by a qualified Solicitor supported by a Litigation Manager, Trainee Solicitor or Solicitor Apprentice. Any work undertaken by a Litigation Manager, Trainee Solicitor or Solicitor Apprentice would be supervised by James Carpenter (Partner), Saljuq Haider (Partner) or Katarina Morgan (Solicitor) who are all qualified Solicitors. All solicitors in the team are supervised by a Partner. Details of the individuals within the team and their qualifications and experience can be found in their profiles.
Stage 1 - Pre-Legal Action – Fixed Costs – Standard Debt Recovery
The first step in recovering a debt is to send a Letter Before Claim. This is a procedural requirement under the Civil Procedure Pre Action Protocol for Debt Claims. The nature and content of the Letter will depend upon particulars facts surrounding the debt. We will discuss with you whether a Standard or Bespoke letter is appropriate based on the specific facts of each case.
A Standard Debt Recovery claim will typically be a straightforward claim in respect of an unpaid invoice for goods or services supplied by you.
| Action | Our Fixed Costs |
| Drafting Standard Letter Before Action | £36.00 |
| Pre-Legal review (if required) | |
| up to £10,000 | £600.00 |
| £10,000- £25,000 | £900.00 |
| £25,000 upwards | £1,800.00 |
In addition to the above Fixed Cost, a commission will be charged on any monies recovered at the Pre-Legal stage i.e. before court proceedings are issued. The commission charge will only be applied to monies recovered.
Our commission charge is 10% plus VAT on all sums actually recovered (whether received by us or directly by you) for all debts less than two years old.
If the debt referred to us by you is more than two years old (an “aged debt”) we will charge a 15% commission.
Note: If the debt requires a Bespoke Letter of Claim, then Hourly Rates shall apply (see table below entitled “Claims in excess of £10,000 - Court Action – Hourly rates”).
A Bespoke Letter of Claim will typically involve specialist drafting by a Solicitor and often goes beyond a debt based on an unpaid invoices for goods or services.
Stage 2 – Court Proceedings
If the Letter of Claim does not result in payment then it may be necessary to commence Court proceedings. If so, the following Fixed Fee Structure shall apply:-
| Sum Claimed | Court Fee | Our Fixed Costs | Total |
| Up to £300.00 | £35.00 | £50.00 | £85.00 |
| >£300.00 but not over £500.00 | £50.00 | £50.00 | £100.00 |
| >£500.00 but not over £1000.00 | £70.00 | £70.00 | £140.00 |
| >£1000.00 but not over £1,500 | £80.00 | £80.00 | £160.00 |
| >£1500 but not over £3000 | £115.00 | £80.00 | £195.00 |
| £3,000.00 but not over £5,000 | £205.00 | £80.00 | £285.00 |
| >£5,000 but not over £10,000 | £455.00 | £100.00 | £555.00 |
| >£10,000 but not over £100,000.00 | 5% of the claim | £100.00 | Depends on precise value of sum claimed |
| >£100,000 but not over £200,000 | 5% of the claim | £100.00 | Depends on precise value of sum claimed |
If the Defendant fails to respond to the Proceedings, then we will enter a request for Judgment in Default on your behalf. The following fixed fees for doing so shall also apply:-
| Sum Claimed | Our Fixed Costs |
| Less than £5000 | £22.00 |
| Over £5,000 | £30.00 |
Defended Actions
If following Court proceedings being issued, the claim is disputed by the Defendant, then the following fixed charges shall apply in addition to those detailed in Stage 1 above.
Fixed Fees for Contested Small Claims matters (i.e. less £10,000 or less)
| Action | Our Fixed Costs |
| Fixed fee for dealing with standard defended small claims matter up to £5,000.00 | £900.00 |
| Fixed fee for dealing with standard defended small claims matter between £5001.00 and £10,000.00 | £1,440.00 |
These Fixed Costs include:-
- Taking your instructions, reviewing documentation and dealing with all routine correspondence with the Defendant and Court; and
- Preparing witness evidence; and
- Instructing an advocate to attend the final Small Claims Hearing.
These Fixed Costs exclude:-
- Court hearing fees (these range from £80 to £335 dependant on the value of the small claim).
- Advocates’ fees (these range from £500 to £1500 plus VAT).
- Expert fees (if required)
- Any application required during the course of proceedings e.g. summary judgment application.
Claims in excess of £10,000 – Hourly rates apply[2]
| Seniority of Fee-Earner | Our Hourly rates (plus VAT) |
| Senior Solicitor (Band A) | £290.00 |
| Solicitor (Band B) | £250.00 |
| Junior Solicitor (Band C) | £225.00 |
| Trainee Solicitor/Paralegal/Legal Executive (Band D) | £150.00 |
Stage 3 - Enforcement Costs
Once Judgment has been obtained either by default or following a contested hearing/trial, then it may be necessary to enforce the Judgment. If so, we shall discuss with you the various enforcement methods available. Typically these include the following (although we may discuss other methods depending upon the circumstances of your case).
Charging Order
| Action | Cost (£) |
| Court Fee | 100.00 |
| Obtaining Official Copies | 10.00 |
| Restriction fee | 40.00 for the first 3 titles, £20.00 thereafter. If done electronically, the fee is £20.00 for the first three titles and £10 thereafter. |
| Dealing with Charging Order Application | £600.00 |
Bankruptcy Petition
| Action | Costs |
| Drafting a Statutory Demand | £240.00 |
| Service of Statutory Demand | £96.00 |
| Drafting Petition | £1440.00 |
| Agent’s fee for issuing Petition | £60.00 |
| Court fee | £280.00 (Creditor’s Petition) |
| Service fee | £102.00 |
| Advocate’s fee | £240.00 |
| Official Receiver’s deposit | £990.00 |
Winding Up Petition
| Action | Costs |
| Our Fixed Costs for drafting a Statutory Demand (if required) | £240.00 |
| Service of Statutory Demand (if required) | £96.00 |
| Our Fixed Costs for Drafting Petition | £1440.00 |
| Agent’s fee for issuing Petition (if required) | £60.00 |
| Court fee | £280.00 |
| Service fee | £102.00 |
| Advocate’s fee | £240.00 |
| Advert fee | £108.00 |
| Official Receiver’s deposit | £1600.00 |
[1] Quotes and fees for claims outside of the England & Wales jurisdiction are quoted on a case by case basis due to varying agent fees and disbursements.
[2] Hourly rates are banded in terms of seniority and experience with higher charge-out rates applying for more senior solicitors. The Bands range from A to D, as follows;-
Band A – Solicitor with over 8 years’ post qualification experience including at least eight years’ litigation experience;
Band B – Solicitors and legal executives with over four years’ post qualification experience including at least four years’ litigation experience;
Band C – Other solicitors and legal executives and fee earners of equivalent experience;
Band D – Trainee solicitors, paralegals and other fee earners. “Legal Executive” means a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives.
Anti-Money Laundering Checks
We charge a fee of £20 plus VAT per person to undertake Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks. This fee may increase if there are international elements involved or where further work must be undertaken to satisfy our obligations to identify and verify a client or a third party in the transaction such as a giftor who we are similarly required to verify and identify such as giftors.
Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.