Debt Recovery Lawyers
DebtLaw uk, a division of leading law firm Bowden Jones Solicitors based in Cardiff, regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
We are contemporary specialist debt recovery lawyers, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), acting on behalf of clients recovering consumer debt or commercial debt, both nationally and internationally.
DebtLaw uk can provide you with professional, cost effective debt recovery services tailored to your business needs, a flexible charging structure and re-assurance of an ethical and comprehensive approach to robust collections practice.
Every Experience, Good or Bad, is a Priceless Collector’s Item
We have over 20 years’ experience in collections and recoveries. The accounts we have managed range from forward flow to second and third placement contingency collections including; Debt Purchase, Education, Healthcare, Financial Services, Recruitment, Professional Services, Utilities, Local Government and from large companies to SME’s.
Our People Are Dedicated
Our skilled debt recovery collectors will work with you to achieve the best possible outcome and provide practical advice to help you recover the full amount of the debt expediently and with minimum cost. Whether or not you would like to maintain a relationship with your customer is a key factor in our recovery methods so that we ensure we protect our reputation and yours.
Our collections services are packaged into flexible bundles based on three core areas.
Save Money and Improve Cash Flow
We offer Credit Control Management incorporating an innovative lettering service as part of your internal collections process. We can manage your ledger or target a specific part of it, allowing you more time to focus on other areas of your business and freeing up your resources. DebtLaw uk has successfully implemented a bulk letter and email credit control service for clients in the Financial and Health sectors.
Pre–Legal Collections Can Be the Fastest Form of Debt Recovery
Our Pre-Legal Debt Recovery service is mostly collected on a ‘no collection no fee’ basis, aimed at saving you money from the outset, with a large proportion of our fees being charged as a percentage of the debts that we recover. The initial contact made with your customer at the outset maybe critical to obtaining immediate payment or negotiating settlement. DebtLaw uk has a multi-skilled experienced team, we can judge the most effective course of action attempting to settle without the need for legal action. This means that we avoid conducting unnecessary litigation and saving costs whilst Treating Customers Fairly.
Incisive Action
Legal Services when all else fails, we offer a Legal process encompassing streamlined civil and insolvency proceedings. We work with you in a consultative manner to set the right objectives and help you determine the most suitable course of action including, consideration of your reputation, requirements, costs, history of the account balance and customer’s demographic. We are able score any case based on a customer’s ability to pay. Our case management system will then use tailored workflows to drive our legal processes, taking each case through the relevant legal stages, including judgment and enforcement. Our library of workflows is subject to regular reviews to take account of sector and legal developments. We can keep you up dated throughout all our processes via bespoke reporting.
Debt Recovery Services
DebtLaw uk provide debt recovery services in flexible bundles, a comprehensive breakdown of these services can be provided with our brochure on request. Key features include:
Credit Control Management
We offer a comprehensive review of your internal collections processes, policies and systems to provide feedback on improving performance and optimise your cash flow
Facilitator Letter
This entails issuing a facilitator letter on your behalf as part of your internal collections process. The letter encourages contact directly with you and more importantly repayment proposals to avoid your customers potentially receiving a default notice and or, legal proceedings
Pre-Legal Debt Collections
Including lettering, telephone debt collection, and trace and collect
General Debt Recovery Advice
Including Pre-Action Protocol for debt claims compliance, process review and credit control advice
Letter Before Action (LBA)
A letter warning your customer that court proceedings will be commenced if the debt is not paid by a certain date
Legal Proceedings
Including County Court proceedings, obtaining judgments, mediation services, defended legal actions, negotiation and advocacy
Enforcement Of Debts
Including Charging Orders, Attachment of Earnings, Order for Information, Warrant of Execution, High Court Writs and Third Party Debt Orders
Bankruptcy And Winding-Up Petitions
Including bankruptcy, winding up, advice on customer’s petitions, Individual Voluntary Agreements (IVAs), Company Voluntary Agreements (CVAs) and post insolvency trustee liaison, completing proof of debt or proxy forms on behalf the client to lodge creditor’s claim
Credit Agreements
DebtLaw uk has specialist departments that deal with all Credit Hire Agreements and unsecured credit agreements. We have over 20 years’ experience dealing in both regulated and unregulated credit agreements
Mortgage Enforcement & Mortgage Shortfall
Including all the litigation stages from letter before action, claim for possession, through to possession. If a mortgage shortfall results following sale of the property, we are very experienced in successfully recovering this type of debt
Debt Purchase
Consultancy and guidance service for debt sale and debt purchase portfolios. We have collected on all types of debt purchase accounts
Local Government & Education Debt Recovery
We use our debt collections expertise to assist Local Government and Education Authority in enhancing their recoveries strategies
Trace & Collect
We utilise bespoke desktop tracing to locate your customer’s and provide an automatic debt recovery service
Training And Guidance
Evaluation of collection procedures and methods to improve cash flow by onsite training, coaching, telephone call handling and multi-letter strategies
Company & Bankruptcy Checks Search the Individual Insolvency Register for details about bankruptcy orders, and details of companies involved in insolvency proceedings, liquidation, frozen assets etc…
RE-LITIGATION FEES (Financial Year 2020 – 2021)
| Facilitator First Contact Lettering Service (sliding scale dependent on volume) | £1 – £24 per Letter (Ex VAT) |
| Management Fee – process correspondence/calls/emails | £250.00 – £500.00 (Ex VAT) |
Pre-Legal Fixed Fees – Phase 1
| Tracing Services we operate on a strictly “No Trace – No Fee” basis | £25.00 – £150.00 (Ex VAT) |
| Basic Address Search Address verification Verify Active telephone number | £ 25.00 (Ex VAT) |
| Status Report Company Directors Search Bankruptcy Search Property Search Check Voters Roll Search for telephone Numbers Search for email addresses Search for Social Media Accounts | £ 50.00 (Ex VAT) |
| Trace Report We aim to trace all debtors within 30 days of instruction No Trace No Fee Locate new address & Forwarding addresses Telephone Number validation check – Landline & Mobile County Court Judgment Search All the above | £ 75.00 (Ex VAT) |
| Lifestyle Report Employment Details if applicable If Homeowner Land Registry Title & Plan supplied Assets location e.g. vehicle(s) Mortality Check All the above | £ 150.00 (Ex VAT) |
Debt Profiling
| Due Diligence, Analysis of Data, Strategies | £250 per hour |
| Site visit, training package, external test calls, feedback | £300 – £500 per hour or Package arrangement |
Debt Collecting External Auditing / Training
Pre-Legal Fixed Fees – Phase 2
| Negotiating Instalment and lump sum settlements commission based collected on a ‘no collection no fee’ basis (according to volume and complexity) Including lettering, telephone debt collection, and trace and collect, monitoring arrangements to conclusion. | Commission Based 12.5% – 50% (Ex VAT) |
| Letter of Claim (LOC) / Disputed Letter of Claim (DLOC) UK Debtor LBC / DLBC Foreign Debtor LOC / DLOC | £275.00 – £325.00 (Ex VAT) £325.00 – £375.00 (Ex VAT) |
Legal Fees – Phase 3
POST-LITIGATION FEES
- Issue County Court Proceedings
| Level of Debt | DebtLaw uk Costs (+ VAT) | Court Issued Claim | Filed via Secure Data Transfer (SDT) or Money Claim Online (MCOL) | Solicitors Fixed Costs Awarded by Court at Issue | Solicitors Fixed Costs at Judgment (in default) |
| Up to £300.00 | £200.00 | £35.00 | £25.00 | £50.00 | £22.00 |
| £300.01 – £500.00 | £250.00 | £50.00 | £35.00 | £50.00 | £22.00 |
| £500.01 – £1,000.00 | £275.00 | £70.00 | £60.00 | £70.00 | £22.00 |
| £1,000.01 – £1,500.00 | £300.00 | £80.00 | £70.00 | £80.00 | £22.00 |
| £1,500.01 – £3,000.00 | £350.00 | £115.00 | £105.00 | £80.00 | £22.00 |
| £3,000.01 – £5,000.00 | £400.00 | £205.00 | £185.00 | £80.00 | £22.00 |
| £5,000.01 – £10,000.00 | £500.00 | £455.00 | £410.00 | £100.00 | £30.00 |
| £10,000.01 – £15,000.00 | Hourly Rate | 5% value of claim | 4.5% value of claim | £100.00 | £30.00 |
| £15,000.01 – £50,000.00 | Hourly Rate | 5% value of claim | 4.5% value of claim | £100.00 | £30.00 |
| £50,000.01 – £100,000.00 | Hourly Rate | 5% value of claim | 4.5% value of claim | £100.00 | £30.00 |
| £100,000.01 – £150,000.00 | Hourly Rate | 5% value of claim | 4.5% value of claim | £100.00 | £30.00 |
| £150,000.01 – £200,000.00 | Hourly Rate | 5% value of claim | 4.5% value of claim | £100.00 | £30.00 |
| £200,000.01 + | Hourly Rate | £10,000.00 | N/A | £100.00 | £30.00 |
*MAXIMUM AMOUNT FOR SECURE DATA TRANSFER (SDT) OR MONEY CLAIM ONLINE (MCOL) IS £99,999.99*).
(HOURLY RATES: Solicitor + Senior Legal Executive (F.C.I.L.E.X.) = £217.00 + VAT
- Requesting Judgment (in default)
Fixed Fee: £22.00 + VAT / £30.00 + VAT
- Defended Proceedings
- Debt £300.00 – £5,000.00
Fixed Fee: £1,250.00 + VAT + Court Disbursements & Counsel Fees
- Debt £5,000.01 +
Hourly Rate: £217.00 + VAT + Court Disbursements & Counsel Fees
POST-JUDGMENT FEES
- Post Judgment (in Default) Letter [if required]
UK Debtor – 7 Day Judgment Letter = £75.00 + VAT Foreign Debtor – 14 Day Judgment Letter = £100.00 + VAT
- Enforcement of Judgment (in default)
| Type of Enforcement | DebtLaw uk Costs (+ VAT) | Court Disbursements (2020) |
| High Court Writ of Control (High Court Enforcement – HCE) | £175.00 | £66.00 |
| Warrant of Control (via MCOL or CCBC) | £175.00 | £77.00 |
| Attachment of Earnings Order | £175.00 | £110.00 |
| Order to Obtain Information from a Debtor | £175.00 | £55.00 or £110.00 (if service required by County Court Bailiff) |
| Third Party Debt Order | £750.00 | £110.00 |
| Charging Order | £750.00 | £110.00 |
(In addition to the above, there may be disbursements such as Process Servers Fees; Abortive Fee Notes from HCE; Land Registry Fees and Agents Fees for attendance at Court Hearings).
- Non-Routine Cases / Advising on Risk / Prospects of Success / Liability
Any time spent on cases which is non-routine, will be charged at the hourly rate. If a Defence is received, a legal review capped at an initial 2 hours for a review of the papers at £150.00 + VAT per hour (advising on merits of the case; prospects of success / liability; recommendations; and a full estimate of costs / disbursements if client has a good case to proceed to a Hearing / Trial).
- Personal Insolvency (Creditor’s Bankruptcy Petition)
| DebtLaw uk Costs (+ VAT) | Court Fee & Official Receiver’s Deposit (2020) | |
| Preparation & Instructing Process Server to serve Statutory Demand (SD2) | £350.00 | N/A |
| Preparation; Issuing & Instructing Process Server to serve Bankruptcy Petition & instructing Agent’s to attend Bankruptcy Hearing | Hourly Rate/s | £280.00 + £990.00 |
(In addition to the above, there will be disbursements such as a Bankruptcy Search, Process Servers Fees and Agents Fees for attendance at Court Hearings).
- Corporate Insolvency
| DebtLaw uk Costs (+ VAT) | Court Fee & Official Receiver’s Deposit (2020) | |
| Preparation & Instructing Process Server to serve Statutory Demand (SD1) | £350.00 | N/A |
| Preparation; Issuing & Instructing Process Server to serve Winding Up Petition & instructing Agent’s to attend Bankruptcy Hearing | Hourly Rate/s | £280.00 + £1,600.00 |
(In addition to the above, there will be disbursements such as Process Servers Fees; advertising in The London Gazette and Agents Fees for attendance at Court Hearings).