100% of your original debt. That's the model.
Upfront Legal does not deduct a commission from the original debt. Where the principal debt is recovered, the client receives 100% of that original principal — and any recovery charges are considered separately, pursued from the debtor only where there is a lawful contractual or statutory basis for doing so.
100% of your original debt
Most debt collection quietly shrinks what you're owed: a percentage comes off everything recovered. Our model is different. Recovered principal is accounted for to the client without an Upfront Legal commission deduction from that original principal — where your £10,000 invoice is recovered, the £10,000 is yours. Any recovery charges pursued from the debtor are considered separately and are included only where there is a lawful contractual or statutory basis for doing so.
Recovery charges: pursued from the debtor, where the law allows
Whether anything can be added to a debtor's balance is checked case by case — never assumed. Three lawful bases exist:
Statutory — qualifying B2B debts
The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 can add statutory interest, fixed compensation of £40, £70 or £100 per overdue invoice, and reasonable additional recovery costs where legally recoverable. See the interest guide and calculator — these statutory sums are separate from your original principal, and they are not an Upfront Legal published fee.
Contractual
Where your contract with the debtor provides a valid, enforceable basis for recovery charges, those charges may be pursued from the debtor. Whether a term does that work is a legal question about your actual terms, answered at assessment — not a blanket assumption.
Individual customers
No arbitrary collection charges are added to consumer trade debts. Any relevant contractual term must be legally valid, fair and enforceable before it is relied on — and where no lawful basis exists, no charge is pursued.
How recovered sums beyond the original principal are applied is confirmed in your written terms.
Commercial terms, confirmed privately
Commercial terms relating to an instruction are confirmed privately and in writing before work begins — nothing starts until you've seen and approved them. External costs sit outside that: court issue fees are set by HM Courts & Tribunals Service, and the fees of authorised professionals such as solicitors, advocates and enforcement officers apply only where a case genuinely needs them. Both are approved by you in a written costs schedule first and passed through at cost, with no mark-up.
Nothing deducted from principal
Recovered principal is accounted for to you with an itemised statement — and without an Upfront Legal commission deduction from that original principal.
No dormancy fees
We don't charge "file maintenance" or "account keep-open" fees while a repayment plan runs its course.
No pressure to litigate
Court action is advised only where the numbers make sense. We put the break-even in writing so you can see it too.