Letters Before Action: A Quick Guide
What is a letter before action?
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At the start of any legal action, a letter before action is usually the best first step.
This sets out the details of your potential claim or grievance including: what you want from the other side, what legal issues are involved, and a warning of the next steps that you intend to take if your request is not complied with.
Why send a letter before action?
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By engaging with the other side at an early stage, you give yourself the chance to:
Obtain the result you want, without starting potentially costly legal action.
Get the other side's position set out in writing. This will give you insight on how to plan the next steps including whether you have a you have a strong enough claim to commence legal proceedings.
Create a dialogue to see if a middle-ground can be reached.
Obtain evidence that supports or opposes your claim, at an early stage.
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The Court will also want to see that you tried to resolve any dispute before going to Court. The Court have issued various protocols which should be followed in most legal disputes.
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The protocols set out what you steps you should take, including allowing the other side a reasonable amount of time to respond to your letter of claim.
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If you do not comply with an applicable protocol the Court can penalise you by taking that failure into account when determining who pays the costs of a legal action, and how much they pay.
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What we can do for you?
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We can review your claim, and draft a protocol compliant letter of claim, giving you the confidence that you have taken the best first steps in resolving your claim.
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Depending on any response, we can then advise you on you options and possible.
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How much will it cost?
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We offer 2 cost services:
If the claim is for a straight forward debt or payment of an invoice, we offer a fixed fee service starting from £35 - see our fees.
If the claim is more complex (in either the facts or legal issues) or is likely to be disputed, we would be glad to review the claim in a free no-obligation initial consultation and give you a quote for our costs.
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In both services, we will also review any response from the other side, and advise you on the next steps.
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More information
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If you want to discuss your issue, or have any queries about how we can help, contact us now.
See How We Can Help
Our solicitors are experts in litigation and experienced in managing individual and business legal claims. This means whatever concerns or problems you face, we can help.
Book a free consultation by contacting us below, or call us on 01242 894 796
We offer a free no-obligation consultation to discuss new enquiries with you. That means you can discuss any problems you have, and consider your options, without the worry of incurring any legal costs. We will gladly listen to what you want to achieve, address any of your concerns and answer any questions that you may have.
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We will give you clear advice about any legal costs at the very start, so that you are in a well informed place, to decide what action to take.
Depending on your particular circumstances, and if we think that a legal claim has good prospects, we may be able to help on on a no-win no-fee basis. That means that we would not take anything for our fees up-front, but would usually take our fees at the end of a successful claim, and out of sums recovered from your opponent.