Solicitor Letter - Help!!

Gerbud

Hi,

How do I go about getting one of these for chasing up non-payment? Are they costly?

Thanks in advance...

PCPhoto

duh ... goto a solicitor !!!

should cost maybe €20-€30 (but I could be wrong)..... costs €10 for them to sign anything.

jancav

not sure what solicitor would do a letter for that little! I used a small local solicitor to get payment from a 'client' who refused to pay, and it cost me about 200 euro in total: but it was worth it for getting the 2000 I was owed within a week of the letter going out!!

focusing

Most good solicitors only charge a relatively small amount for debt collection initial demand letters.

Suing someone for a debt is obviously more expensive, but again most solicitors charge reasonable fees. Remember if you sue someone for a debt, the court will make the debtor pay the costs and interest if you are successful, so you shouldn't have to pay all that much further yourself unless additional work is needed to enforce the judgment.

I know a couple of people who do work in that area. Drop me a PM if you'd like.

juke

focusing wrote: »

Remember if you sue someone for a debt, the court will make the debtor pay the costs and interest if you are successful, so you shouldn't have to pay all that much further

Reasonable fees - Depends on the debt. The scale costs awarded in the district court are derisory, so if the debt is small, it's not worthwhile for a solicitor to take it on unless they charge a fee (often a % of the sum collected). The lower the debt the less cost efficient this becomes, and a solicitor is more likely to charge a minimum set fee.

focusing

The scale fees are very low for very small debts, but the scale fees for a larger amount (say €4k to €6k) when combined with interest should cover a decent chunk of a reasonable solicitor's fees.

For instance, on a €4,500 debt where the debt is 6 months overdue by the time of judgment, you're looking at €220 + VAT in cots and another €280 under the late payment regulations.

That should definitely cover the better part of the fees of a reasonable solicitor who has already been paid for the initial letter of demand.

juke

Agreed - however, these days I'm seeing more and more small debts - €300-1200. And the client has high expectations, and seem shocked/disappointed when the hard facts are pointed out - I was just mentioning this so the OP won't be too surprised - op never mentioned amount of debt.

PCPhoto wrote: »

should cost maybe €20-€30 (but I could be wrong)..... costs €10 for them to sign anything.

The €10 you refer to is a "swearing" fee for signing declarations etc - and the input of that solicitor is minimal - ie they don't take the initial instruction, draft the document etc. Hence the low fee.

To prepare an initial 7 day debt letter, I'd say the absolute minimum would be €100.00 plus vat - and then maybe at that level only for a regular client who would have several debtors.
At that level, it's not cost efficient (meet client, take instructions, correctly identify identity of debtor and correct amount (and interest if applicable), open file on accounts package, open physical file, obtain anti-money laundering legislation documentation, prepare and send s. 68 letter, prepare and send 7 day letter).

Guess it depends on how much the solicitor wants the work.

focusing

juke wrote: »

open file on accounts package, open physical file, obtain anti-money laundering legislation documentation, prepare and send s. 68 letter

All of which amounts to as much work than the debt collection!

Fair point.