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How much will it cost to recover a debt owed to my business?

At Clarke Willmott we have a debt recovery team who regularly for registered providers, local authorities, residential managing agents, management companies and landlords.

Our services include recovery of:

  • Service charges
  • Ground rent charges
  • Rent arrears
  • Maintenance fees
  • Relevant insurance charges and utilities charges
  • Administration and professional expenses (where relevant)

We also work closely with the specialist property litigation team at Clarke Willmott, who deal with more complex lease disputes and property possessions that require a more tailored approach. The information set out below is for our debt recovery team. Please see our services pages for our other litigation teams to view the range of other services we offer.

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Our standard debt recovery charges are on a fixed costs basis except for instalment monitoring and defended/complex actions. Our charges and disbursements (including Court fees) will be payable whether or not they can be recovered from the debtor. However, most leases and transfers allow for administration charges, costs and interest to be added to the debt.

Therefore most client administration charges, our costs and any court fees are usually fully recoverable from the debtor, together with any interest due on the arrears.

Where a charge is recoverable from the debtor, we will endeavour to seek payment of that charge as well as interest on the debt.

Full fee details

For new clients, we charge a one-off, new client set-up fee of £55+ VAT at 20%.

For each case then sent to us, we charge a fee of £170+VAT to send a letter before action. In most cases our fee is recoverable from the debtor. In some cases, if we believe a case is sufficiently complex or will require additional work, we will apply a higher fee than those listed below. If this applies, we will explain our reasons and agree this with you beforehand.

We charge a fixed pre-litigation fee depending on the value and complexity of the case(s).The fee will always be agreed with you before action is taken.

The pre-litigation fee includes:

Undertaking a Land Registry search to obtain the mortgage company details

  • Review of lease clauses
  • Sending a pre action protocol compliant letter to the debtor
  • Sending an initial letter to the mortgage company (if there is one) with a copy of the pre action protocol compliant letter

However, every client is different and we will agree an approach:

Pre-legal Recovery
Debt Value Our charge (plus VAT)
Any value £170

Timescales

Where the leaseholder/tenant is an individual/sole trader, the initial letter must allow a minimum of 30 days for the debtor to reply.

Where the leaseholder/tenant is a company, the initial letter must allow a minimum of 14 days for the debtor to reply.

It is a requirement of the Court that you endeavour to resolve all issues prior to litigation and accordingly, you may be obliged to allow the debtor additional time to pay or seek advice.

We charge fixed fees proportionate to the debt amount. If a defence is received, we will provide a time-based fee estimate (see hourly rates below).

Court Fees are subject to change from time to time. The Court fees stated in the tables below are correct as of 8th April 2025.

Our typical charges for legal action are below. If a claim, judgment application, enforcement or insolvency action is particularly complex and we are required to revise our charges from the amounts below we will agree these with you in advance.

On issuing a claim
Debt value Our charge excluding VAT. (VAT is payable at 20%) Court fee (VAT not payable)
Up To £299 £118 £35
£300 – £499 £118 £50
£500 – £999 £297 £70
£1,000 – £1,499 £297 £80
£1,500 – £2,999 £297 £115
£3,000 – £4,999 £297 £205
£5,000 – £9,999 £533 £455
£10,000 – £199,999 £888 5% of the claim
£200,000+ £888 £10,000

Timescales

Once the Court issues the Claim Form, the debtor has 14 days from the date of service to reply. Where the debtor indicates an intention to defend, this will extend to 28 days from the date of service.

Upon expiry of that period if no defence is received, we will proceed to apply for Judgment.

If a defence is received, the timescales will depend on the particular Court, the value and complexity of the debt. We will keep you advised of progress throughout the case.

On requesting judgment our charge excluding VAT (VAT is payable at 20%)
Debt value (including costs and interest claimed) Default of acknowledgement Default of defence Admission; proposal accepted Admission; proposal rejected
Up to £4,999 £25 £28 £46 £62
£5,000+ £35 £40 £62 £80

Enforcement action may be required to recover an outstanding debt after Judgment. If it is, we will advise you on the most appropriate method of enforcement and the costs that will apply.

Timescales

We are unable to provide a timescale on enforcement action as this will depend on many factors including the Court’s caseload and the debtor’s circumstances.

Enforcement options
Action Our charge excluding VAT (VAT is payable at 20%) Court fee (VAT not payable) Other disbursements
Warrant of Control (instructing a County Court Bailiff) £47 £94
Writ of Control (over £600) (instructing a High Court Enforcement Officer (HCEO)) £207 £78 Abortive Fee: £75 plus VAT payable to the HCEO if they are unable to recover.
Attachment of Earnings £207 £135
Third Party Debt Order £249 £135 Agent’s fees for attendance at hearing (usually £110 plus VAT).
Information Order £207 £67 Process Server’s Fee (usually £90 plus VAT). Oath Fee: £7.00 (VAT not payable) Agent’s fees for attendance at hearing (usually £110 plus VAT).
Additional hearing fee Information Order £23 n/a
Charging Order £249 £135 £40 Land Registration Fee per property (VAT not payable).

The above charges list our standard fees for debt recovery. There are some situations where action may not follow the standard process and additional work may be needed. Where possible, we will offer you a fixed fee for this. It is not possible to provide an exhaustive list of the situations which can arise, but the list below covers some of the most common.

Miscellaneous action (if required)
Action Our charge excluding VAT (VAT is payable at 20%) Court fee (VAT not payable) Other disbursements
Review of any defence filed Minimum review charge of £150, TBC dependant upon complexity
Solicitor service of proceedings £60
Telephone mediation £155
Tomlin order £258 £123
Objection to strike off £60
Application to transfer to Scotland £264 + £77 £119 You will be responsible for the fees and costs of the relevant agent.
Liaising with agents outside of jurisdiction £22 per letter / email
Instructing trace agent £57 including trace agents fee if for standard trace, £88 including trace agents fee if for residential and employment trace Agent’s fee
Land Registry search (England & Wales) £10 per search
Land Registry Fee (Charging Order) £40
Land Registry search (Scotland) £16 per search
Instalment monitoring 10% of each instalment plus VAT.
High Court Enforcement Officer (HCEO) payments 8% of the payment received plus VAT.
General application (by consent / without notice) £60 £123
General application (on notice) Fee quoted on a case by case basis £313

Below is an overview of our insolvency charges.

Insolvency action
Action Our charge excluding VAT (VAT is payable at 20%) Other disbursements (VAT at 20% if payable) Court fee (VAT not payable)
Statutory Demand £413 Process server’s fee from £85 plus VAT
Preparation of Bankruptcy Petition (if debtor is an individual) £671 Plus Hearing Agent fee from £100 plus VAT
Company Search Fee £42 plus VAT
Preparation of Winding Up Petition (if debtor is a company / partnership) £826 Plus Hearing Agent fee from £100 plus VAT
Court fee for Insolvency Action £343
Official Receiver’s Deposit – Bankruptcy (if debtor is an individual) £1,500
Official Receiver’s Deposit – Winding Up (if debtor is a company / partnership) £2,600
London Gazette fee (Winding Up only) (if debtor is a company / partnership) London Gazette fee: £92.20 + VAT
Attendance at Bankruptcy hearings (per hearing) From £200
Attendance at Winding Up Petition hearings (per hearing) From £300
Administration fee for refund of Official Receiver’s Deposit From £108

Contact a debt recovery solicitor

Email Philip Roberts
Philip Roberts photo

Philip Roberts

Partner and Head of Debt Recovery

Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, London, Manchester, Southampton and Taunton
Phil is a Chartered Legal Executive and Partner in Clarke Willmott’s Debt Recovery team specialising in defended debt recovery litigation and insolvency actions.
View profile for Philip Roberts >

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