Letter Before Action

LETTER BEFORE ACTION

The first stage of the debt recovery process involves sending a solicitors’ letter before action to the organisation that owes you money.  You should send this type of letter if you are looking to recover a debt from a partnership or a limited company.

WHAT IS A LETTER BEFORE ACTION?

A letter before action is a written demand for payment of a debt within a certain period of time.  We demand payment within 7 days.

DO I NEED TO SEND A LETTER BEFORE ACTION?

Yes, the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 state that you must send a letter before action before embarking on a debt claim.

HOW IS A LETTER BEFORE ACTION DIFFERENT TO A LATE PAYMENT LETTER?

A letter before action is different from a late payment letter in that we will demand payment of the debt that is owing to you but not any statutory late payment compensation that you may be entitled to by law.

WHAT INFORMATION SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN A LETTER BEFORE ACTION?

A letter before action does not have to be in a prescribed form.  However, an effective letter before action will state:

1. The correct name and address of the organisation that owes you money.
2. Whether they carry on business as a partnership, limited liability partnership or a limited company.
3. The value of the debt outstanding.
4. That the debt is overdue.
5. That court action will follow if payment is not made within 7 days.

HOW DO YOU SEND A LETTER BEFORE ACTION?

Our letter before action will be sent to the organisation that owes you money by Royal Mail first class post.

CAN A LETTER BEFORE ACTION BE SENT BY EMAIL?

There is no requirement in law for a letter before action to be sent by recorded delivery or via email.

DO I NEED A SOLICITOR TO SEND A LETTER BEFORE ACTION?

Strictly speaking, you do not need a solicitor to send a letter before action.  However, using a solicitor may increase the likelihood of you getting paid.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO SEND A LETTER BEFORE ACTION?

For a fixed fee of £10.00 plus VAT, we will send a solicitors’ letter before action to the organisation that owes you money.  The cost of sending a letter before action is not usually recoverable from the organisation that owes you money.

If you want us to send a letter before action by post and by e-mail, our fee will be £30.00 plus VAT.

HOW DO I INSTRUCT YOU TO SEND A LETTER BEFORE ACTION?

You can instruct us to send a letter before action by completing our Letter Before Action Form – Partnerships & Limited Companies and returning it to: mail@bennettwilliamssolicitors.com.  Before doing this, you must complete the Open an Account form on our website and wait for confirmation that your account has been opened.

HOW QUICKLY WILL YOU PROCESS MY REQUEST?

Provided that your instructions are received by 4.00pm, we will process your request same day.  If your instructions are received after 4.00pm, at a weekend or on a bank holiday, we will process your request the next working day.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN AFTER I INSTRUCT YOU TO SEND A LETTER BEFORE ACTION?

We will send you a copy of our letter before action and our invoice for £10.00 plus VAT.  Thereafter, if the organisation that owes you money contacts us following receipt of our letter before action, we will contact you immediately to let you know if:

1. They admit the debt and have sent us payment.
2. They admit the debt but have not sent us payment.
3. They admit part of the debt and have sent us payment.
4. They admit part of the debt but have not sent us payment.
5. They have requested copy documents.
6. They dispute the debt.

If your debt is disputed, a charge of £15.00 plus VAT per unit will be payable in respect of the time we spend sending you copy correspondence and/or details of any telephone call(s) we receive from your opponent.  Ad-hoc requests for further advice and/or guidance will be charged at the rate of £15.00 plus VAT per email and/or telephone call.

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DON’T RESPOND TO A LETTER BEFORE ACTION?

If the organisation that owes you money fails to respond to a letter before action, you will be entitled to proceed to Stage 2 of the debt recovery process by instructing us to issue court action.

Please note: to access our services, you will need to open an account.  You can do this by completing the form on the open an account page of our website.  On receipt of your application, we will set you up as a debt recovery client and then contact you to explain what will happen next.  Alternatively, for general enquiries, please contact us.  If you would like to speak to one of our advisors, please call: 0151 650 6908.  We very much look forward to working with you.

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