Debt Recovery Fees
If you are owed money, we can work with you to recover your debts in the most transparent and cost-effective way possible. Below you will find more information on our fees and the people who will work tirelessly by your side to retrieve what is owed to you.
Our fees and rates
If you need help collecting debt from a person or business and it is not a complicated or disputed case, we have set fees that apply. However, additional fees, such as a fixed fee for simple tasks like sending a letter or an hourly rate for more extensive work may apply if the debtor disputes your claim or things get more complex. We will always keep you informed about any additional fees before moving forward.
| Debt value | Pre-action fees (plus VAT) | Court issue fee | Litigation fee (plus VAT) | Judgment fee (plus VAT) | Total (plus VAT) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to £5,000 | £170 | £35 - £205 | £135 | £75 | £415 - £495 |
| £5,001 to £10,000 | £170 | £455 | £160 | £100 | £885 |
| £10,001 to £50,000 | £200 | 5% of the value | £400 | £100 | £1,200.05 - £3,200 |
| £50,001 to £100,000 | Hourly rates | 5% of the value | Hourly rates | Hourly rates | N/A |
| Hourly rates | |
|---|---|
| Senior solicitor | £350 per hour |
| Solicitor | £250 per hour |
| Junior solicitor | £200 per hour |
| Trainee solicitor/Paralegal | £150 per hour |
What do these fees mean?
Pre-action
- Taking instructions from you and considering any relevant documents you provide.
- Making limited enquiries on a corporate debtor at Companies House and obtaining a credit report.
- Preparing and sending a letter to the debtor demanding payment a letter before action. Please note that we must comply with the pre-action protocol for debt claims involving individual debtors, which gives the debtor at least 30 days to respond before we can take further action.
- Receiving and transferring payment to you.
Court issue
A fee that must be paid to the court when a claim is issued.
Litigation
If the debt is not paid within the prescribed timescale, we will prepare and issue court proceedings.
Judgment fee
- Asking the court to set out repayments a defendant should make to you.
- Preparing and sending a letter to the debtor requesting they provide payment within a relatively short period of time.
- Advising you on your options for enforcing the judgment if payment is not received within the given timescale.
Additional information on fees
- If it is necessary to trace the debtor this may incur additional fees, including for the trace agent plus £75 plus VAT for our time spent instructing the agent and advising you on the outcome.
- The VAT element of the pre-action fee and any trace agent fees cannot be recovered from your debtor.
- Court fees and an element of the litigation and judgment fees are potentially recoverable from the debtor.
- Interest and compensation (under the Late Payment Act) may take the debt into a higher banding with a higher cost.
- Our fixed fees do not apply to where the debt is disputed or defended or if the matter is or becomes complex. Complexity will be decided at our discretion, but some examples include debts arising from complex contractual arrangements, if the debtor is in or on the verge of an insolvency process, or the debtor defends the claim or files a counterclaim.
- Our fixed fees include routine negotiations with the debtor.
- Our fixed fees do not include preparing and providing a debt repayment agreement – our fees for this work will instead be charged at our hourly rates. These fees are calculated by the amount of time our staff spend and are subject to the applicable hourly rates, although fee estimates will be provided (and agreed with you) before work begins.
How long do debt claims take to resolve?
Usually between 2 to 12 weeks from us receiving instructions to receipt of payment from the debtor, assuming the debtor pays promptly after being instructed to by the courts. This depends on whether or not it is necessary to issue a claim (following pre-action) and whether the debtor is an individual or a corporate entity.
If enforcement action is required, the matter will take longer to resolve. If this happens we will advise of our fees and an indication of a likely timescale.
NB. Please note these time scales are predicated upon the assumption that the matters progress smoothly through the court system, matters will of course take longer if there are issues in that regard.
Who will handle my case?
Debt recovery matters are handled by our Commercial Disputes legal team. Legal Director Stuart Ashall, Head of Insured Litigation leads the team, which includes solicitors, trainee solicitors and non-qualified legal secretaries and paralegals with many years of experience in all areas of commercial disputes, including debt recovery.
Rest easy knowing our legal team will be by your side, helping you recover any debts you are owed.
Meet our Debt Recovery Team
Stuart Ashall, Head of Insured Litigation
Stuart is a senior lawyer and the Head of the Commercial Litigation team. He qualified as a solicitor in 1997 and joined rradar in 2013.
Stuart has acquired extensive experience in claims investigation and defence work on behalf of major international clients as well as small to medium-sized businesses.
As Head of Insured Litigation, he has management responsibility for a large team of lawyers ranging from senior litigators to junior lawyers and paralegals.
Stuart has a high level of expertise and technical ability in insurance policy coverage issues. He oversees complex commercial insurance litigation claims, ensuring clients are fully supported throughout the litigation process. He is known for his thorough approach and ability to quickly adapt and develop expertise and process in new and technical areas of legal service delivery.
Robert Norton, Senior Solicitor
Robert is a senior solicitor in our Commercial Disputes (High Value) team operating out of our Leeds office. He joined rradar in 2014, having previously worked for Optima Legal, Brooke North, Pinsent Masons and CMS Cameron McKenna.
Robert qualified as a solicitor in 1992 and has 30 years’ of practising experience. His work has covered a wide variety of commercial disputes resolution matters, mostly acting on behalf of SME and owner-managed businesses. Robert’s principal areas of practice include commercial, and company related issues, insurance, commercial property and professional liability.
Robert has an LLB from the University of Sheffield and did his Law Society Finals at the School of Law, Guildford.
Grace Connor, Senior Solicitor
Grace is a senior solicitor in the Commercial Disputes (High Value) team, having joined rradar in 2018. She was previously with DWF for nearly 8 years, where she rose to become an Associate.
Grace advises clients on a broad range of areas dealing with contractual and tortious disputes including breach of sale and supply contracts, negligence claims and breach of restrictive covenants as well as claims against directors.
In addition, Grace regularly advises AXA on issues of policy coverage and associated disputes.
Grace has an LLB from the University of Sheffield
Lorna Peters, Solicitor
Lorna is a solicitor in the Commercial Disputes (High Value) team within our Leeds office. Having qualified as a solicitor in 2015, Lorna joined rradar in 2016. She works on a wide range of commercial dispute matters in varied sectors. Her experience includes breach of contract claims, negligence, Director disputes, general litigation and insurance claims.
Lorna has an LLB and LPC from Leeds Beckett University.
James Gould, Solicitor
James is a solicitor in rradar’s Commercial Litigation (High Value) Team in Leeds where he advises clients on high value and complex commercial disputes. James joined rradar in January 2020 and has over 5 years practising experience as a commercial litigation lawyer.
James qualified as a solicitor in May 2017 and has represented both companies and individuals in company-to-company disputes and disputes with government agencies such as HMRC. In addition to pure commercial disputes, James is also experienced in property litigation and construction disputes.
James has a BA Hons History – 2:1 from the University of Sheffield, and an MA Law – Pass with merit, also from the University of Sheffield. He gained his BPTC (Very competent) in 2011 from Nottingham Law School. In 2015, he gained his LPC with Distinction from BPP Law School.
James was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in November 2011.
Ibrahim Alyas, Solicitor
Ibrahim is a solicitor in our Commercial Disputes (High Value) team in Leeds where he advises clients on a broad range of commercial disputes, including defending and pursuing claims. Ibrahim joined rradar in November 2021 as a newly qualified solicitor after undertaking his two-year training contract at a regional law firm.
His case highlights include defending an intellectual property claim which included allegations of passing off made by an internationally renowned musical instrument manufacturer and pursuing a claim valued in excess of £250,000 concerning allegations of breach of contract, breach of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and negligence.
He has an LLB from Brunel University, London, a LPC and a MSc Business Law and Management from the University of Law.
Marcus Lee, Trainee Solicitor
Marcus is a Trainee Solicitor in our Commercial Disputes (High Value) team in Leeds. Marcus joined rradar in July 2022 after completing his doctorate, which focused on sustainable development governance of the Malaysian energy sector.
Whilst completing the PhD Programme, Marcus also taught Contract Law and Employment Law at university.
Marcus’ case highlights include assisting on an international dispute, which included assessing and progressing the case, considering whether the claim would be covered by AXA’s insurance policy as well as preparing the first draft of instructions to counsel.
Klaudia Matusiewicz, Paralegal
Klaudia commenced her first legal role as a paralegal at rradar in November 2021 where she joined the Commercial Disputes (High Value) team in Leeds and broadened her knowledge in litigation.
Klaudia will shortly start her training contract at rradar and will continue to expand her experience across various teams.
Klaudia assists on matters involving breaches of contract and directors’ duties, including claims arising out of insolvency proceedings.
Klaudia assisted in preparation of draft letters of response to a company’s appointed liquidator to rebut the allegations of unlawful dealings by the directors.
Klaudia achieved First Class Honours in Law in 2020 from Sheffield Hallam University and Distinction in Master of Law in Legal Practice (Solicitors) Course in 2021 from BPP University.
Emma Box, Solicitor
Emma Box is a Senior Solicitor in our Commercial Disputes team, supervised by team leader and Head of Insured Litigation Stuart Ashall. She has 25 years’ practising experience in commercial litigation, including contractual claims, company and partnership and corporate disputes, property and construction litigation, negligence, and nuisance.
Emma qualified in 1997 after gaining a MA (Hons) from St Hilda’s College, Oxford, and her CPE and LPC at the College of Law York. She joined rradar in 2019.
Mark Egner, Solicitor
Mark Egner is a Senior Solicitor in our Commercial Disputes Team and is supervised by Stuart Ashall, Head of Insured Litigation. Qualifying in 2001, he has 21 years’ practising experience and specialises in commercial and property litigation. He joined rradar in April 2021.
He has an LLB (Hons) Law and Marketing (Dual Honours) 2:1 from Keele University and a LPC from York College of Law.
Peter Corrigan, Solicitor
Peter Corrigan is a senior solicitor in our Commercial Disputes team, supervised by Head of Insured Litigation Stuart Ashall. He has 27 years’ practising experience, five of those as a Legal Executive and the other twenty-two as a solicitor.
Peter specialises in commercial disputes, breach of contract, property litigation both commercial and residential, including dilapidations and agricultural tenancy and some educational law work.
Peter qualified as a legal executive in 1993. He subsequently gained his LPC and conversion course and qualified as a solicitor in 1998.
Peter joined rradar in October 2021
Kezia Fry, Solicitor
Kezia is a consultant solicitor in our Commercial Disputes (High Value) team based in our Leeds office. She joined rradar in October 2022.
She qualified in 2009 and has 13 years’ practising experience. She has a degree in Politics and Sociology from the University of Bristol and a GDL/LPC from the College of Law.
Tim Lawrence, Solicitor
Tim is an experienced dispute resolution solicitor and the location head of the Commercial Disputes team in our Birmingham office.
Tim qualified as a solicitor in 1989 and has over 30 years’ experience of dealing with a range of disputes, acting for business clients in all sectors as well as individuals. Tim has successfully represented clients in hundreds of disputes of all kinds over the years. He has been a partner at Thursfields, Shakespeare’s Solicitors and Shakespeare Putsman LLP as well as an Associate at Rigbeys. He joined rradar in May 2020.
His career has taken him to all the County Courts in the Midlands, the High Court in Birmingham, the Northwest, and London as well as the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords.
He has an LLB from the University of Liverpool and his Solicitors’ Finals from the College of Law, Chester.