Debt Recovery & Insolvency
Recovering Business Debts
Is your business owed money and your customer is refusing to pay? Then we can help.
We offer a highly effective debt recovery service, utilising bespoke software, specified and designed for our specialist Debt Recovery team. We can relieve you from the hassle of chasing debts, giving you more time to focus on your business growth.
Debt Recovery
Our debt recovery process is highly efficient and focussed on the swift recovery of debt for your business.
The Debt recovery process is as follows:
We review your documentation and carry out any necessary searches.
We then issue a letter before action. We will aim to send this letter within two working days of receiving your instructions. The letter explains to the debtor how much is owed and demands payment by a set date (between 7 days and one month from the date of the letter). The letter warns the debtor that legal action will follow if the debt is not paid.
If we do not receive payment of the debt or satisfactory repayment proposals, then on your instructions we will arrange for county court proceedings to be issued against the debtor. Again, we will aim to take this step within two working days of your instructions.
We will prepare the court proceedings and file these at court. The court will arrange for your claim to be issued and served on the debtor
The debtor then has 14 days to respond to the claim, and 28 days to file a defence. If either deadline is missed, we will request default judgment on your behalf. If that request is granted the debtor will have a county court judgment (CCJ) registered against them. At that point we will discuss with you steps that we can take to enforce payment of the CCJ.
In appropriate cases, we will use late payment legislation to maximise the recovery of legal costs and interest from your debtors.
Only a relatively small proportion of business debts are disputed. In this situation we continue to assist your through our team of highly experienced and qualified litigation solicitors.
We will advise on how to resolve disputes as cost effectively as possible, often through the use of alternative dispute resolution. We will guide you through each stage of the court process and provide you with the best advice on strategy and prospects of success.
Insolvency
Our specialist insolvency team work alongside our debt recovery department, using the bankruptcy and winding up process for the recovery of substantial debts and achieving excellent results for our clients.
We will recommend the use of bankruptcy or winding up proceedings in cases where there are large outstanding debts, which are not in dispute. This ensures that your business is at the front of the queue ahead of other creditors and that your debts are paid promptly.
We aim to act on your instructions to commence insolvency proceedings within two working days. Usually, the first step is to prepare and serve a statutory demand on the debtor that requires payment of the debt within 21 days.
If the debtor fails to comply with the demand, we will discuss taking the next step with you, which is the presentation of a bankruptcy or winding up petition. On presenting the petition the court will list a hearing date, typically within a matter of a few weeks. We will arrange for you to be represented at that hearing.
Debt collection and enforcement charges
Pre-legal
| Letter before action (debt up to £100) | £5.00* |
| Letter before action (debt over £100) | £15.00* |
Issue and judgment
| Issue of court proceedings | £25-£500 | £50.00* |
|---|---|---|
| £500-£1000 | £70.00* | |
| £1000-£5000 | £80.00* | |
| Over £5000 | £100.00* | |
| Judgment in default of acknowledgment of service | £25-£5000 | £22.00* |
| Over £5000 | £30.00* | |
| Judgment in default of defence | £25-£5000 | £25.00* |
| Over £5000 | £35.00* | |
| Judgment on admission | £25-£5000 | £40.00* |
| Over £5000 | £55.00* | |
| Monitoring instalment payments (per instalment received) | £5.00* |
Enforcement of judgement debt
| By County Court Bailiff | free of charge |
| By High Court Enforcement Officer | free of charge |
Recovery, correspondence and telephone charges
| Recovery charge on all sums recovered following receipt of your instructions in addition to the fees set out above | 6%* |
Work undertaken in respect of debts which become defended or disputed, or other non-routine debt collection work not detailed above at rates to be agreed
* VAT at the rate of 20% is added to all of these charges
Court fees and disbursements
Fees at the rate laid down by HM Courts Service are payable at every stage of the court process. These will be billed in addition to our charges. Other disbursements (including High Court Enforcement Officer’s fees) will be charged at cost, including VAT at the rate of 20% when applicable.
Rates subject to change on notification
Testimonials
“We have worked with Davies and Partners on several matters relating to service charge arrears recovery and breaches of lease agreements and their service has consistently exceeded our expectations. Their team is highly knowledgeable, responsive, and efficient with a clear understanding of the complexities involved in property management and landlord-tenant relationships.
Thanks to their expertise and proactive approach we have successfully recovered outstanding arrears and resolved lease breaches swiftly and effectively. Davies and Partners have become a trusted legal partner and we would not hesitate to recommend their services to other managing agents and freeholders.
Davies and Partners have advised us and our clients on matters involving complex landlord & Tenant and Trespass issues and have always provided clear, timely and focused advice allowing us and our clients to move matters forward proactively and confidently. Many thanks to all at Davies and Partners!“
Ash Chartered Surveyors
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