For businesses that are owed money or facing a claim: letters before action, negotiation, mediation, court proceedings and enforcement in England and Wales.
Most breach of contract and negligence claims must be brought within six years, and a contract made as a deed has twelve. Some claims have much shorter limits, and the rules on when time starts to run can be complicated.
If you think a deadline may be close, take advice before anything else.
We act for businesses and their owners in commercial disputes: unpaid invoices, broken contracts, disagreements with customers, suppliers and co-owners, and claims made against you. We start by working out what you want from the dispute and its value, then look for the quickest route to that result, which is often a negotiated settlement or mediation. Where the other side will not pay or engage, we issue proceedings and take the claim through to judgment and enforcement.
The disputes we handle include unpaid invoices and loans, claims for breach of contract, defective goods and services, disputes arising from commercial leases, disagreements between shareholders or business partners, and claims against contractors and professional advisers. We act for businesses bringing claims and for businesses defending them. If you have received a letter of claim or court papers, send them to us straight away. Court claims have short deadlines for responding, and a defendant who misses them can have judgment entered against it without a hearing.
At the first stage we read the documents and give you our view of the strength of your position, the realistic outcomes and the cost of each step. The court rules expect both sides to exchange information and consider settlement before a claim is issued, and the court can take a failure to do so into account when deciding who pays the costs. For most debts and contract claims, that means a letter before action setting out the claim and a deadline to respond, followed by negotiation or mediation if the other side engages. If the claim goes to court, we explain which track it is likely to be allocated to, how much of your legal costs you could expect to recover if you win, and how a judgment can be enforced.
Time limits apply to every claim. Most claims for breach of contract must be issued within six years of the breach, some claims have shorter limits, and the other side can defeat a claim issued too late on that ground alone. If a deadline may be close, speak to us before doing anything else.
Most disputes end before a courtroom. These are the points at which that happens, and what each one costs.
A letter before action setting out the claim and a deadline to reply. The court rules expect this, and a party who skips it can be penalised on costs even after winning.
Negotiation, or mediation with an independent mediator. Most disputes end here, and the settlement is usually better than the same fight three months later.
The claim form and particulars, the court fee, and the defendant's window to respond. A defendant who misses it can have judgment entered without a hearing.
The court fee scales with the amount claimed.
The court decides which track the claim runs on, which fixes how much of your costs you can recover and how formal the process becomes.
This is where the cost ceiling is set.
Most claims that get this far still settle. Where one does not, a judgment is enforceable against the other side's assets, bank accounts or earnings.
Letters before action, claims for interest and fixed compensation under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 where it applies, court claims for the debt, and judgment in default where the debtor does not respond. If the debtor disputes the invoice, we assess the dispute before advising on the next step.
Claims where a customer, supplier or contractor has not done what the contract required, including late or defective work, non-delivery and wrongful termination. We work out what you can recover, including lost profit where the law allows it, and whether the claim is worth its likely cost.
When a customer, supplier or former business partner threatens or issues a claim against your business, we review the claim, meet the deadlines for responding, and advise you on whether to defend, counterclaim or settle, and on what terms.
Disagreements between the owners of a company or partnership about decisions, money, exclusion from the business or an exit. We start with the shareholder agreement, articles or partnership agreement, and then advise on negotiation, a buy-out of one side, or a claim through the court.
Preparing for and attending mediation, making and responding to settlement offers, and drafting settlement agreements that set out who pays what and by when, and what happens if a payment is missed.
If the other side does not pay after judgment, we advise on the enforcement options: enforcement agents taking goods, an order taking money from a bank account or from wages, a charging order over property, or insolvency proceedings against a debtor that cannot pay.
For most breach of contract claims, six years from the date of the breach. Most negligence claims also have a six-year limit, usually running from the date the damage occurred, and claims under a contract made as a deed have twelve years. Some claims have much shorter limits, and the rules on when time starts to run can be complicated, so take advice early if you think a deadline may be close.
Not necessarily. Before a claim is issued, the court rules expect both sides to exchange information and consider settling, including through mediation, and a dispute can often be resolved at that stage. The court can also order the parties to take part in mediation or another form of dispute resolution, and a party that unreasonably refuses can be penalised in costs. If the other side does not respond or make a reasonable offer, we issue a claim and continue to look for a settlement as the case progresses.
Usually some of them. Recovering all of them is unusual. The general rule is that the losing party pays the winning party's costs, but the court can order otherwise and decides the amount. On the small claims track, which generally deals with claims worth up to £10,000, very little of your legal costs can be recovered. For most claims up to £100,000 allocated to the fast track or the intermediate track, recoverable costs are limited to fixed amounts set by the court rules. We tell you at the start what you could expect to recover, so that you can weigh it against the cost of the claim.
Once the time for responding has passed, you can ask the court for judgment without a hearing, known as default judgment. The court then orders the debtor to pay by a set date. If the debtor still does not pay, you can use the court's enforcement methods, such as enforcement agents, an attachment of earnings order, a third party debt order or a charging order. Enforcement only works if the debtor has money or assets, so we check the debtor's position before recommending the cost of court action.
Send them to us straight away with the documents they refer to. A letter of claim should be answered within the period the pre-action rules allow, and a considered reply can narrow or resolve the dispute. Court papers have shorter and stricter deadlines: a defendant must usually file a defence within 14 days of service of the particulars of claim, or within 28 days if it files an acknowledgment of service, and if it does not, the claimant can ask for judgment in default without a hearing.
Yes, in most contracts between businesses. If the contract does not provide for interest, the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 allows you to claim interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate, a fixed sum of £40, £70 or £100 depending on the size of the debt, and reasonable recovery costs. If the contract sets its own interest rate, that rate usually applies instead. Interest and compensation can be included in a letter before action and in a court claim.
Tell us what has happened and we will arrange a call with one of our solicitors.
Book a consultationTo start, send us the contract or terms of business, the invoices and statements, the correspondence with the other side and a short timeline of events. Tell us whether the other side is a company, a sole trader or an individual, because additional pre-action steps apply to debts owed by individuals. We confirm in writing what we will do and what it will cost before we start, and we update the estimate before each new stage, so that you can decide whether the next step is worth taking.