Debt Recovery Costs and Services

These costs will apply to circumstances where you wish to seek recovery of a debt for unpaid service charges and ground rent.

Under the Swaine Allen No Legal Costs Worry Guarantee these costs will be recovered directly from the debtor if the claim is successful, and you will not be charged if the claim is not successful. Where this option is not available, we inform you in advance of any costs that you will have to pay which could be on a fixed fee, or an hourly rate if more extensive work is needed and you make a business decision whether to proceed or not.

For straightforward recovery of a debt for unpaid service charges and ground rent we anticipate that our costs will fall within the range of £1567 and £3567 plus VAT currently 20%.

All costs listed are illustrative, and the exact cost will depend on the individual circumstances of the matter.

These costs are also based on matters which are not disputed by the other party and enforcement of the Court Judgment not needed.

If the other party disputes your claim at any point, we will discuss any further work required and provide you with revised advice about costs if necessary.

The costs are based on our charging rates of between £126 and £255 per hour plus VAT currently 20%.

Please note that the VAT element of our fee cannot be reclaimed from the debtor if you are VAT registered.

Court fees which do not attract VAT will be added to our costs based on the value of the debt.

Our fees include:

Stage A

• Taking your instructions and reviewing title documentation and relevant demands
• Undertaking appropriate searches
• Sending a letter before action
• Receiving payment and sending onto you

Stage B

• Advising you on any response received to the letter before action and issuing an appropriate reply if so advised.
• Engaging in communication with the other party where necessary.

Stage C

• If the debt is not paid, drafting and issuing a claim
• Where no Acknowledgment of Service or Defence is received, applying to the court to enter Judgement in default
• When Judgement in default in received, writing to the other party to request payment
• If payment is not received within 28 days, providing you with advice on next steps and likely costs

Our fees listed above do not include:

• Reviewing a significant amount of documents
• Enforcement action of the Judgment to collect your debt
• Dealing with a claim which is disputed pre action or defended after proceedings are issued
• Participating in alternative dispute resolution or mediation on your behalf
• Instructing an expert or barrister

In the above circumstances, we will discuss what further work required and provide you with revised advice about costs.

Potential Additional Expenses

In complex matters we may recommend that a barrister is instructed to advise on your prospects of success or to draft the necessary court proceedings for issue. We will advise you and seek your approval of such fees before they are incurred.

How Long Will This Take?

We aim to issue a letter of claim within 24 -48 hours of our instruction.

In most cases the debtor will be an individual so will have 28 days to respond under the Debt Pre Action-Protocol.

If no response is received following this period, we will prepare and issue proceedings.

Subject to any delays with the Court and assuming the debtor does not file a defence disputing the claim we would expect to be able to secure a judgement in default within 16 weeks of receipt of instructions from you.

The debtor should make payment within 28 days of receipt of a Judgement in default. However, if the debtor does not pay and if enforcement action is needed, the matter will take longer to resolve but we will discuss the options available for enforcement and likely timescales at that stage.

The Team

Our team of specialist property litigation solicitors have years of experience in dealing with property disputes. Our litigation Director Andrew McBirnie overseas the team with over 23 years of litigation experience.  Solicitor Loren Thompson who has over 20 years litigation experience heads the department and supervises Solicitor Samuel Wright who trained with and recently qualified with the firm.

Our solicitors have experience in all aspects of property litigation law, and we dedicate ourselves to ensuring our knowledge stays up to date, in order to give you the best service possible. We always make sure that junior solicitors and members of staff are supported and supervised appropriately so that the quality of advice is not affected, regardless of who is working on your case.

We also employ a team of 5 paralegals and 6 administrative staff who do much of the day-to-day work on cases and have received extensive training within our firm and work under the direct supervision of the department head.

We have a proven track record in achieving successful outcomes for our clients.