Terms and Conditions for handling debt collection (Northern Ireland)

1. Our charges are as follows:

(a) Scale fees on any Proceedings brought together with disbursements outlay for court fees etc.  You are entitled to full Indemnity in this respect from the Debtor if the same can be collected from him.

(b) Commission on amount actually recovered from the Debtor (either through us or direct to you) subsequent to placing of instructions with us, charged in respect of each account at the rates set out in Table 2 attached to this letter.  This commission is not recoverable from the Debtor.  For the avoidance of doubt, there is no charge to you of any commission if no money is recovered from the debtor, although the other forms of charge will apply.

(c) VAT on our fees will be payable at 17.5% or the prevailing rate at the relevant time.

(d) At out discretion, our standard litigation hourly rates may be charged where you contact us seeking information, updates or reports. However, there is no additional charge when we report to you in accordance with condition 4 below.

2. We require payment on account for the fee on issuing Proceedings.   The amount of the fee depends on the size of the debt.  A table showing the fees payable is shown as Table 1 is shown below. For any other disbursement or outlay we will expend the same on your behalf and look to you for payment  when our next account is delivered.  If we are in possession of any money recovered from another debtor of yours, we can deduct from that money the outlay already expended or needed to be paid in respect of a debtor against whom we have to issue a civil bill. 

3. When an Account is referred to us by you for collection we normally proceed without further correspondence to you and on the assumption that no payments are subsequently accepted by you from the Debtor.  It is very important that you contact us immediately should the Debtor make contact or payments on account are made directly to you as otherwise we shall proceed to Court in the assumption that contact/payments have not been made thus incurring further Costs which may in that event be payable by you.

4. We report to you on the following events

(a) When an individual Account has been fully collected

(b) When the debtor files a notice of intention to defend or writes to us regarding disputing the claim

(c) On all accounts annually (or more frequently if the volume and value of accounts warrant same)

(d) On such occasions as we deem necessary to communicate with you to enable further progress of the claim.

5. In respect of any account placed in our hands for collection we will require the following details

(a)                detailed particulars of account, showing

(i)                  how the amount is calculated

(ii)                the full Christian name(s) and surname(s) of the debtor(s)

(iii)               The address of the debtor(s)

(iv)              The occupation of the debtor(s) if known

(b)               Copies of all statements and invoices issued by you relating to the account

(c)        (i)  a copy of the debtor's headed notepaper (if available); or alternatively

  (ii)   some form of proof of the Debtors legal status, i.e. whether the Debtor is a Sole Trader or a Limited Company. 

If the debtor is a Limited Company, it is important that we receive copy headed note paper (if available) showing exact name of Company, Registered Office and Company Number.  If we are obliged to search for any of this information we must make an extra charge for doing so.

6. These terms and conditions do not apply to a claim which either begins in the small claims court or which has been set down as a small claim for arbitration.  Individual quotations will be offered by us for handling such claims.

7. These terms and conditions apply to debt collection relating to a claim in the jurisdiction of Northern Ireland (whether or not the debtor resides or carries on business there). 

 

TABLE 1:  Court fees on issuing proceedings

 

Amount of claim	Court fee
Not exceeding £1000	£150                County Court
£1000.01 - £5,000	£165                County Court
£5000.01-£15,000	£185                County Court
Exceeding £15,000	£200                High Court

 

NB the above table may be subject to revision if there is any change in the fees.  The fees shown were implemented on 24th September 2007 

 

TABLE 2:  Commission Charges for Debt Collection

 

A Money recovered from debtor	B Cumulative total recovered of each complete band	C Commission of band	D commission per band on money recovered	E Cummulative total commission of each complete band
First £2000	£2000	10%	£200.00	£200.00
Next £2,000	£4,000	8%	£160.00	£360.00
Next £2,000	£6,000	6%	£120.00	£480.00
Next £3,000	£9,000	4%	£120.00	£600.00
Next £6,000	£15,000	3%	£180.00	£780.00
All other money recovered	No upper limit	2.5%	No upper limit	No upper limit

 Notes for Guidance on working out the commission

(1)               Deduce the largest number in Column B (figure a) which is less than the amount recovered and read the figure on the corresponding line in column E (figure b). 

(2)               Work out the difference between figure a and the total debt recovered (figure c)

(3)               Calculate the commission on figure c (figure d) using the commission rate in column C in the row below figures a and b.

(4)               Add figure b to figure d.  The answer is the amount of the commission payable.

Related Topics

Debt Collection