What is the difference between a debt recovery agency and a solicitor?
A debt recovery agency chases an unpaid invoice. On a typical B2B file that means writing to the limited company, setting out the sum, adding statutory late-payment figures where they apply, sending a letter before action, and taking reasonable telephone and email contact. What a UK debt collection agency can (and cannot) do is set out separately. The claim remains yours. The agency does not “award” the debt.
A solicitor is an authorised person. The Solicitors Regulation Authority is an approved regulator under the Legal Services Act 2007. A solicitor with a current practising certificate is entitled to carry on reserved legal activities, including the conduct of litigation — issuing proceedings, prosecuting them, and the ancillary functions that go with a claim.
An agency that is not so authorised cannot do that work for you. Sending a demand is not issuing a claim. A letter before action is not a claim form. An introducer is not a law firm.
When is a debt recovery agency the usual first step?
Use a partner commercial agency when the debt is a business-to-business invoice for goods or services, the sum is not genuinely disputed, internal credit control has already failed, and you need a compliant pre-action letter rather than a county court claim.
Practice Direction – Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols paragraph 6 expects the claimant, where no specific protocol applies, to write with concise details of the claim: the basis, a summary of the facts, what is wanted, and if money, how the amount is calculated. The defendant should have a reasonable time to reply — 14 days in a straightforward case. Litigation is a last resort (paragraph 8).
That letter is pre-legal work. A partner agency can send it. You remain the creditor. The court is not involved. Silence on the letter is not a CCJ.
Company-to-company invoices sit outside the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims. Follow the Practice Direction. This article is about England and Wales. GOV.UK notes a different process in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
If reminders have already failed and the invoice is not in genuine dispute, instruct a debt collection agency through the secure form on this site. We introduce the file. We do not issue proceedings.
When do you actually need a solicitor?
Instruct a solicitor — or another person authorised to conduct litigation — when the file has left pre-legal work, or when you want a law firm to own it.
1. There is a genuine dispute. Quality, delivery, set-off, or a written complaint with substance. Pre-legal chasing will not try that issue. You need advice on the contract and, if you proceed, someone entitled to conduct the litigation. A late, undocumented excuse is not the same thing.
2. You want reserved legal work done for you. Section 12 of the Legal Services Act 2007 lists reserved legal activities. The one that matters for an unpaid invoice is the conduct of litigation : issuing proceedings before any court in England and Wales; commencing, prosecuting and defending them; and ancillary functions such as entering appearances (Schedule 2, paragraph 4). It is an offence under section 14 to carry on a reserved legal activity unless you are entitled to.
3. You want a law firm to issue and run the claim. You do not have to. GOV.UK states that you can apply to a county court to claim money you are owed by a person or business, online or by post. The creditor can do that as a litigant in person. Many businesses still prefer a solicitor to issue, particularly on a defended file or anything that needs rights of audience.
A solicitor is not required to send a letter before action, or to start a straightforward money claim.
SRA authorisation versus an introducer
The SRA’s firm-authorisation guidance is blunt: reserved legal activities can legally only be provided by someone authorised by an approved regulator. The SRA is an approved regulator for those activities except notarial work.
Debt Collection UK is an introducer. We take the instruction and pass the file to an independent partner agency. We do not conduct reserved legal work. We do not hold ourselves out as solicitors. We are not SRA-authorised. Partners collect; the footer and terms say so.
If a partner tells you a claim is the next honest step, that is a view on whether to litigate. Issuing is your decision. If you want a law firm to issue it, instruct one. We will not pretend an agency letter is a solicitor’s letter, or that uploading an invoice starts proceedings.
Agency first, solicitor later
The path is sequential. Skipping a step does not make the later powers appear.
- Internal reminders fail.
- A partner agency takes the undisputed file: demand, letter before action, reasonable contact.
- If the debtor pays, you stop.
- If the debtor stays silent and the documents support a claim, you decide whether to issue — yourself via the court, or through a solicitor if you want a law firm.
- If a genuine dispute appears, pause collection and take legal advice.
Skipping step 2 and instructing a solicitor on every late invoice is lawful. It is rarely proportionate on a clean, undisputed B2B invoice. Skipping step 4 and expecting an unauthorised agency to issue the claim is not lawful.
A claim is not payment. A solicitor’s letter is not a judgment. Recovery is not guaranteed.
If reminders have already failed and the invoice is not genuinely disputed, use the secure form on the debt collection agency page or the unpaid invoices page. Upload the invoice, the contract or purchase order, and the amount. We introduce a partner. They chase. You remain the creditor. We do not issue proceedings.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a solicitor to recover an unpaid commercial invoice? Not as a first step. An undisputed B2B invoice usually starts with a partner agency: demand and a letter before action. You need a solicitor when there is a genuine dispute, when you want reserved legal work done for you, or when you want a law firm to issue the claim.
Can a debt recovery agency issue a county court claim for me? Conduct of litigation is a reserved legal activity under section 12 of the Legal Services Act 2007. An unauthorised agency cannot issue proceedings as your lawyer. You can apply yourself — GOV.UK says you can claim money you are owed by a person or business, online or by post — or you instruct a solicitor.
Is a letter before action reserved legal work? No. The Practice Direction expects the claimant to write with concise details of the claim before issuing. That letter is not a claim form. A partner agency can send it.
Are Debt Collection UK solicitors? No. We are a trading style of PASECOM GROUP LTD. We introduce B2B files to independent partner agencies. We are not solicitors, we are not FCA-authorised, and we do not collect consumer credit.
Should I instruct a solicitor if the debtor has raised a dispute? If the dispute is genuine — quality, delivery, a written complaint with substance — take legal advice. Pre-legal chasing will not try that issue. A late, undocumented excuse is not a new payment term.
Does instructing an agency or a solicitor guarantee payment? No. Neither an agency letter nor a solicitor’s claim form creates assets. Recovery is not guaranteed.