Best Consumer Protection Solicitors in Coventry

A Letter Before Action, also known as a Letter of Claim, is a formal letter that sets out what a claimant states they are entitled to, and what they expect the respondent to do. In the context of debt, the claimant will state why the respondent owes them money and how much, and when it needs paid by, before legal proceedings are issued. An LBA must include certain information in accordance with the Civil Procedure Rules.

Generally, once your LBA has expired and the debtor has not paid or responded, you would want to issue Court proceedings in order to obtain a County Court Judgment against them. If the debtor has responded to your LBA, then depending on their response you might want to consider alternate options, such as responding to their response or trying to arrange a settlement. You can escalate your LBA to Court proceedings quickly via our portal. Similarly, if at any point you want to instruct us to take conduct of the matter, we are more than happy to do so (our normal hourly rates will apply as per our Pricing Guide).

Yes, if the contract between you and the other side has provisions for interest, you can claim these from the debtor. When submitting a matter through our portal, there is the option to add contractural interest as part of your claim. All you need to do is enter the interest rate and frequency, and our portal will calculate the total interest you can claim. Additionally, if your contract allows for other costs to be claimed, you can enter these as part of your claim against the debtor.

If your intention is to issue Court proceedings against the debtor in order to obtain a CCJ against them, then you will need to send an LBA before issuing. Often, an LBA is enough to get the debtor to pay.