Bringing a Debt Claim

Kinetic Law cover all aspects of debt recovery; including but not limited to; Student debt recovery, Rental arrears, Acting for Landlords, Estate Agents, Medical Agencies, Engineers, Manufacturers and Suppliers and many more other professional organisations. From small to large business’.

We also offer services to represent an individual bringing a debt claim.

Defending a Debt Claim

Do not ignore it, ACT QUICKLY – you must respond to a debt claim at the earliest by the date on the email or letter that you receive. You will usually have 14 days to respond to the Party requesting payment. Get in touch today and we can assist in filing a defence.

County Court Judgement: What we can do:

• Advise you on your legal position regarding the CCJ
• Help you resolve the CCJ
• Negotiate and reach an agreement with the creditor over the removal of the CCJ and make an application to remove the CCJ to the Courts by consent
• Prepare an application to set aside the CCJ if the Creditor will not consent to remove the CCJ
• Represent you at the hearing of the application to set aside the CCJ

Key Stages and Typical Timescales

Debt recovery timelines can vary widely depending on the debtor’s response and court schedules. However, to manage expectations, here are the key stages of a debt claim and estimated timescales:

· Initial Letter Before Action: We will usually send the letter within 1-3 working days of being instructed (assuming we have all necessary information from you). We typically give the debtor 14 days to respond (or 30 days if the debtor is an individual and the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims applies). During this period, we may engage in negotiations if the debtor opens communication. Many debts are resolved or paid at this stage, in which case the matter could be concluded within a few weeks.

· Issuing Court Proceedings: If the debtor fails to pay or respond satisfactorily to the letter, the next step is to file a claim. Preparing the claim and issuing it in court takes about 1-2 weeks. Once issued, the court will send the claim to the debtor, who then has 14 days from service to respond (acknowledge or defend). If they acknowledge service, they get 28 days from service to file a defence. So from issue to the deadline for a defence is typically around 4-5 weeks.

· Obtaining Judgment: If the debtor does not respond within the 14/28-day timeframe, we can request a Default Judgment shortly thereafter (within a week). So an undefended claim might result in a judgment about 6-8 weeks from the claim being issued. If the debtor does file a defence, the timeline extends. The court will allocate the case to a track (likely small claims track for under £10k, fast track for £10k-£25k, etc.) and give directions. Defended small claims (under £10k) often take 3-6 months from issue to reach a final hearing (as small claims trials are shorter and the procedure is simpler). Defended fast track cases (e.g. £10k–£25k) might take around 6-12 months to reach a trial, depending on complexity and court availability. We will keep you updated at each stage and discuss any significant steps (like witness statements, evidence, or settlement opportunities).

· Enforcement: If we obtain a judgment (by default or after a hearing) and the debtor still doesn’t pay, enforcement is required. The time to enforce can vary by method. For example, applying for a High Court enforcement writ takes a couple of weeks, and the enforcement agents typically act within a few days of receiving the writ. Many enforcement efforts yield results within 1-3 months, but if the debtor has no assets or is evasive, it could take longer or require multiple methods. We will usually know within a few months if enforcement is successful. If one method fails (e.g. bailiff unable to recover), we might try another (like a charging order on property), which has its own timeline. We will explain these options if needed.

Overall, for an undisputed debt, you might have a resolution (payment or judgment) within 1-2 months. For a disputed debt, reaching judgment can take several months, and enforcement (if needed) might add additional months. We will always do our best to progress matters as efficiently as possible. Also note that small claims track cases are intended to be quicker and less formal,

whereas higher value claims undergo more steps (disclosure, witness statements, etc.), which extends the timeline. We will outline a more precise timetable once we know the specifics of your case.

Team and Expertise

Your matter will be handled by our dedicated Debt Recovery team, which includes experienced solicitors and paralegals. The team is supervised by a senior solicitor. In particular, Shabaz Hussain (Managing Director of Kinetic Law) oversees the debt recovery practice. Shabaz is a qualified solicitor (admitted 2009) with over 15 years of legal experience, including extensive experience in civil litigation and debt recovery. Day-to-day work on your case may be conducted by an associate solicitor or a trained paralegal with specific experience in debt matters, under supervision. We will provide you with the name and status of the lawyer(s) handling your case in our client care letter. We pride ourselves on being a “modern law firm” with a strong team ethos, serving clients across England and Wales. Rest assured that your case will be managed by competent professionals, and you will have a direct contact to discuss any questions throughout the process.

Pricing Structure

Our pricing is transparent and compliant with SRA Transparency Rules, giving you a clear understanding of costs. All fees quoted below are plus VAT (currently 20%) and exclusive of disbursements (payments to third parties, e.g. court fees). We will always provide a personalized quote for your specific case, but our standard fee options are:

· Undisputed Debts up to £10,000 (Small Claims): We charge a fixed fee of £1,000 + VAT, plus any disbursements, to handle an undisputed debt claim up to £10,000. This covers preparing and sending a Letter Before Action, drafting and issuing court proceedings, and obtaining a County Court Judgment (CCJ) if the debtor does not respond or pay. (Small Claims are typically for debts under £10,000 and have limited recoverable costs.) If the debtor disputes the claim (i.e. the case becomes defended), we will inform you of any change in fees before proceeding further.

· Debts over £10,000 (up to £100,000): We offer a “fixed fee + success fee” hybrid arrangement. An initial fixed fee of £1,000 + VAT (plus disbursements) is charged at the outset to start the claim. If we successfully recover the debt, we charge an additional success fee of 25% of the amount recovered (this success fee is also subject to VAT). This 25% success fee is payable only upon success – in other words, no success, no further fee. If no recovery is made, you would only have paid the initial £1,000 + VAT. Example: For a £20,000 debt, you pay £1,000 + VAT to begin the case, and if we recover the full £20,000, a success fee of £5,000 (25%) + VAT would be charged at the end. (Any amounts recovered from the debtor toward legal costs or interest will be credited to you to offset your expenses.) This fee structure allows you to pursue larger debts while sharing the risk with us. We ensure that our 25% success fee complies with all legal and regulatory requirements – for context, the law caps contingency fees in litigation at 50% of the damages, and our fee is well below this cap.

· Complex or High-Value Debts (over £100,000 or highly contested cases): For very large debts or particularly complex cases, we typically charge on an hourly rate basis, at £250 per hour + VAT. This may apply, for example, if the debt value exceeds £100,000 or the matter involves complex disputes (such as counterclaims or novel legal issues). We will discuss the likely scope of work and provide an estimate or budget based on the hourly rate. Even in these cases, we remain open to alternative funding arrangements (such as conditional or contingency fees) if appropriate, but any such arrangement would be agreed on a case-by-case basis.

No Win, No (Additional) Fee: In summary, if we do not recover any money for you, you will not owe any fees beyond the initial fixed fee of £1,000 + VAT (and any disbursements paid). The success fee (25%) is only charged upon a successful recovery. This approach aligns with “no win, no fee” principles – you have the peace of mind that unsuccessful efforts (beyond the initial work) will not incur further legal fees.

What Services Are Included?

For the fixed fees quoted above, the following key stages of work are included:

· Initial Advice & Letter Before Action: We will take your instructions, review relevant documents, and send a formal demand letter to the debtor (a Letter Before Action). We typically give the debtor a clear deadline (usually 14 or 30 days, depending on the applicable protocol) to pay or respond. Many debts are resolved at this stage.

· Court Proceedings: If the debtor does not pay after the initial letter, we will draft and issue a claim in the County Court on your behalf. This includes preparing the claim form and particulars of claim and serving them on the debtor. We handle all court paperwork and ensure deadlines are met.

· Judgment: If the debtor fails to respond to the claim, we will apply for a default County Court Judgment. If the claim is defended (disputed), we will represent you through the court process up to obtaining a judgment (this could involve preparing for any hearings or negotiations). In a straightforward undisputed case, obtaining a judgment may be relatively quick (within a few weeks of issuing the claim). In defended cases, the timeline is longer (see Typical Timescales below).

· Post-Judgment Enforcement: Obtaining a judgment is not the end – the debtor must then pay. We will advise you on enforcement options (such as instructing County Court bailiffs or High Court Enforcement Officers, attachment of earnings, charging orders, etc.). Basic advice on enforcement is included in our fixed fee. Actual enforcement actions (e.g. issuing a Writ of Control, or applying for an order) are not included in the initial fixed fee and would incur additional fixed fees or costs (see Disbursements below). We will always discuss these costs with you before proceeding with any enforcement step.

Services not included: The quoted fees do not include expenses such as court fees, enforcement fees, or counsel/advocate fees for any court hearings (those are disbursements, explained below). They also do not cover any substantial additional work beyond the standard process – for example, dealing with a counterclaim from the debtor, or complex defended trial preparation (in such situations, we may need to re-assess the fee arrangement to ensure it remains fair and proportionate). However, any services that a client might reasonably expect to be included have been listed above, and we will highlight in advance if anything falls outside the scope of the fixed

fee. You will never receive unexpected bills – no hidden fees and any change to the fee arrangement will require your agreement.

Disbursements (Third-Party Costs)

Disbursements are costs payable to third parties which may arise during the debt recovery process. Typical disbursements in debt claims include:

· Court Fees: These are fees charged by the court to issue your claim (and for certain applications or enforcement actions). The court fee for issuing a money claim depends on the claim amount – for example, claims over £10,000 incur a fee of 5% of the claim value (e.g. a £15,000 claim has a court issue fee of 5% = £750). Smaller claims have lower fixed fees (e.g. £35 for claims up to £300, up to £455 for a £10,000 claim). We will inform you of the exact court fee before issuing the claim. If a judgment is obtained, the court will usually order the debtor to reimburse the court fee to you, so this cost is normally added to the debt.

· Enforcement Fees: If enforcement is needed (e.g. using High Court Enforcement Officers to collect the debt after judgment), there are court and agent fees. For example, issuing a High Court Writ of Control (to transfer a judgment to High Court enforcement) costs £71. The enforcement agents may charge a compliance fee of £75 + VAT if they have to attend to enforce and cannot recover their fees from the debtor. Successful enforcement actions typically result in these fees being added to the debt for the debtor to pay, but if enforcement is unsuccessful, some fees (like the compliance fee) may fall to you. We will advise on the likely enforcement costs and the chances of recovery from the debtor.

· Counsel or Advocacy Fees: In the event of a defended case that proceeds to a court hearing (especially for claims above £10,000 which might be on the “fast track” or “multi-track”), it might be necessary to instruct a barrister or agent advocate to represent you at interim hearings or trial. If so, you would incur a separate fee for that barrister/agent. We would obtain an estimate for your approval in advance. For illustration, brief fees for a barrister or agent to attend a hearing can range from roughly £120 to £250 (or more, depending on complexity and seniority). Again, if you win the case, a portion of these costs might be recoverable from the opponent.

· Other Disbursements: These might include process server fees (for personal service of documents, if required), company search fees or land registry fees to locate the debtor or their assets, etc. A typical company search fee is around £40. We will notify you of any such expense before incurring it.

VAT on disbursements: Some disbursements (like court fees) are VAT-free, while others (like some search fees or agent fees) may have VAT. Our invoices will clearly state which disbursements have VAT. We do not mark-up disbursements; you pay the actual cost charged by the third party.

Conditional Fee Agreements and DBAs (No Win, No Fee Arrangements)

We have a proven track record of success and will always put you at the heart of the case. We provide an initial no obligation, free assessment of your case. Please click here for further information regarding our costs.

We may use a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) or a Damages-Based Agreement (DBA) for your matter, depending on which is most suitable. These are often referred to as “no win, no fee” arrangements and are regulated by both the SRA and legislation. Our 25% success fee model described above is an example of a contingency fee arrangement that would be set out in a DBA or CFA, with compliance to all rules. Below is a brief explanation:

· Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA): This is a traditional “no win, no fee” agreement where we charge our normal fees plus a success fee if the case is successful. Under a CFA, the success fee is usually calculated as a percentage uplift on our normal fees (capped by law at 100% of the normal fees). Important: Success fees under CFAs cannot be recovered from the opponent in most cases (due to legal reforms), so the success fee portion would be payable by the client out of the sums recovered. In our model, rather than billing hourly normal fees, we have essentially set a fixed base fee (£1,000) and a success fee that in effect equates to 25% of the recovered amount. We will explain to you in detail how any CFA is structured.

· Damages-Based Agreement (DBA): This is a form of contingency fee allowed by the Damages-Based Agreements Regulations 2013, where our fee is directly a percentage of the damages (money) recovered for you. Under a DBA, if you win and recover money, we take an agreed percentage of that recovery as our fee; if you lose (recover nothing), in general you pay nothing (except any agreed expenses or disbursements). By law, the DBA percentage for most civil cases (excluding personal injury/employment) is capped at 50% of the recovery. Kinetic Law’s DBA success fee percentage is 25%, well within this legal cap. We will ensure the DBA is drafted to meet all requirements (for example, it will specify the claim it relates to, the circumstances in which the fee is payable, and how the amount is calculated, as required by the regulations). Note: Current regulations do not generally allow *“hybrid” DBAs (where some fees are paid win or lose in addition to the percentage). In practice, this means that if we operate under a DBA, we typically won’t charge further fees beyond the contingency percentage apart from disbursements. In order to still offer an upfront fixed element, we may structure part of the work under a separate retainer (for example, the initial £1,000 could cover pre-action work not included in the DBA). Regardless of the technical arrangement, the bottom line for you is that any success fee will only be payable upon success and we will not double-charge you.

Compliance and transparency: We will advise you at the outset which funding arrangement is being used (fixed fee, hourly, CFA or DBA, or a combination) and provide you with a written agreement to sign. This will set out in clear terms how and when you may have to pay us, in line with SRA requirements. If a CFA/DBA is used, we will explain: what fees or percentage will be due if you win, what (if anything) is due if you lose, and any other implications (for example, potential liability for the opponent’s costs, discussed below). You will have the opportunity to ask any questions before agreeing. We ensure that any contingency fee is in your best interests and compliant with the SRA Code of Conduct (which requires fees to be fair and transparent) and all relevant laws.

Client Care and Consumer Protections

Kinetic Law is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). We are committed to high standards of client care and full compliance with all SRA rules and guidance. When you instruct us, you will receive a Client Care Letter and Terms of Business, which will confirm: the scope of work, the fees and disbursements agreed, the applicable funding arrangement (fixed fee, CFA/DBA, etc.), and your rights as a client. We encourage you to read these documents carefully and ask any questions. Key points of our client care include:

· Your Right to Cancel (Cooling-off Period): If you are an individual client who instructs us at a distance (e.g. by phone or email) or off-premises (for example, we visit you at home to sign up), you have a legal right to cancel our contract within 14 days of entering into the agreement, under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. We will provide you with a Notice of Right to Cancel explaining this. If you cancel within 14 days, you won’t be charged for any work not already completed. (Please note, if you want us to start work within that 14-day period – for instance, you need urgent action – you can instruct us to do so, but if you later cancel, you may be charged for the work done up to the point of cancellation.) We will not undertake work within the cooling-off period without your express request.

· Transparency and Updates: In line with SRA principles, we will keep you informed about costs and progress throughout your case. You will be updated on any significant developments, such as a defence being filed or a court hearing being scheduled. We will also inform you if anything occurs that may change the initial cost estimate or require a different approach. Our aim is that you are never surprised by either the progress or the cost of your matter.

· No Hidden Charges: The fees and disbursements outlined in this summary (and in our client care letter) cover all aspects of the work we anticipate. We will not charge anything beyond what has been agreed without consulting you and obtaining your agreement to any additional costs.

· Outcome Focused: We always keep your best interests at heart (this is an SRA core principle). If at any point we believe that continuing to pursue the debt is not cost-effective (for example, if the debtor is bankrupt or has no realistic means to pay), we will advise you of this frankly. Our goal is to achieve a positive result for you, net of costs.

· Complaints and Protections: You will receive a copy of our Complaints Handling Procedure, which explains how you can raise any concerns about our service. We hope you won’t need it, but if you ever feel dissatisfied, we have a transparent process to address issues. If a problem cannot be resolved between us, you have the right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman (we will provide details in the client care letter). We also carry professional indemnity insurance as required by the SRA, to protect you in the unlikely event of a mistake causing you loss.

Finally, all our fee arrangements and services are provided in accordance with the SRA Standards and Regulations and the SRA Code of Conduct. The SRA’s Price Transparency Rules specifically require law firms to give clients clear pricing information for debt recovery servicessra.org.uk – our aim is not just to meet these requirements but to exceed them by being as open and straightforward as possible. This draft summary is intended to be fully compliant with those rules and to be written in plain English for ease of understanding.

In summary, Kinetic Law’s debt recovery service offers clear and competitive pricing, with options including fixed fees and no-win-no-fee arrangements to suit your case. We combine transparency in costs with professional expertise in recovering debts. We will guide you through the process from start to finish, keeping you informed at each step and ensuring you know what to expect in terms of fees and outcomes. Our approach is designed to give you confidence that pursuing a debt is worthwhile, with a team that strives to recover what you are owed efficiently and fairly.

Speak to a member of our debt recovery team to see how we can assist.