When the rent stops, the correspondence has to change.

We are a specialist arrears recovery and litigation support practice. We act on written instruction from landlords, freeholders and management companies — and every letter that leaves this office is written to be read twice: once by your tenant, and once by a district judge. Recovery is rarely the cheapest course open to a client, and it is never the cheapest outcome for a debtor: interest, court fees and recoverable costs are added to the sum claimed, and a judgment is recorded against the debtor for six years.

Instruct us on a matter See the recovery timeline

We are not a firm of solicitors, and every letter we send says so.

Our referenceMV/TFE/0214/26 Date31 August 2026 ServiceFirst class post and email

Letter Before Claim — Rent Arrears

Dear

Property:

We are instructed by Thornfield Estates (No. 4) Limited in relation to the tenancy of the above property. Our client's records show rent arrears of £4,180.00 as at 31 August 2026, being four monthly instalments of £1,045.00 falling due on the 1st of each month.

This letter is sent in accordance with the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims. Enclosed with it you will find the prescribed Information Sheet, a Reply Form and a Financial Statement, together with a full statement of account showing every payment received and every sum charged…

Marchbank & Vale Associates is a trading name of Damian Murray. Marchbank & Vale Associates is not a firm of solicitors and does not provide reserved legal services.

Fig. 1 — House letterhead, A4

Protocol-compliantEvery demand issued under the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims, with the prescribed enclosures.

Evidenced serviceFirst class post and email, with proof of posting and service records kept on file.

Judge-ready filesRent schedules, statements and exhibit bundles prepared to the standard the court expects.

Solicitors on callWhere a matter turns contested, we brief and manage a regulated firm on your behalf.

01 — What we handle

Six things, done properly.

Most arrears cases are not lost at trial. They are lost months earlier, in a demand that was never validly served or a schedule that could not be reconciled.

Rent arrears recovery

From the first missed instalment to judgment. Reconciliation of the rent account, formal demand, a negotiated repayment plan where that is the commercial answer, and escalation where it is not. Assured shorthold · company let · licence

Ground rent & service charge arrears

Demands in the prescribed form under s.166 Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, service charge demands within the s.20B time limit, and correspondence on breach of covenant. s.166 CLRA 2002 · s.20B LTA 1985 · breach of covenant

Statutory notices

Drafting and service of possession and breach notices under the current tenancy regime, with the evidence of service that makes them stand up when they are challenged. Housing Act 1988 as amended · Renters' Rights Act 2025

Pre-action protocol compliance

The Information Sheet, the Reply Form, the Financial Statement, the thirty-day clock, and the record that proves all four were provided. Non-compliance is the most common reason a claim is stayed or costs are refused. PAP for Debt Claims · CPR PD Pre-Action Conduct

Case preparation & bundles

Rent schedules, chronologies, witness statements, exhibit bundles and completed claim documentation, prepared for filing by you or by your solicitor. N1 · N119 · N325 · Money Claim Online

Instructing solicitors & counsel

Where a matter becomes contested or needs a regulated hand, we brief an external firm on your behalf and manage the file — so you deal with one point of contact, not three. Fixed-fee referral · file managed end to end

02 — The timeline

From instruction to a claim ready to issue in thirty-five days.

The protocol sets a thirty-day response window and we do not shorten it. What we compress is everything either side of it.

Day 0

Instruction

File opened, matter reference issued, and your authority to correspond recorded in writing.

Day 1–3

Audit

The tenancy, the lease and the rent account are reconciled. We find the defects now, not at the hearing.

Day 4

Letter before claim

Issued by post and email with the full prescribed enclosures and proof of posting retained.

Day 5–34

Response window

Thirty days. Where an offer arrives, we negotiate a documented repayment plan and monitor it.

Day 35+

Escalation

Bundle prepared and claim documentation completed for filing, or the file passed to instructed solicitors.

03 — Who we act for

We take instruction from the party that owns the debt.

Individual landlords, portfolio owners and the corporate vehicles that hold them; freeholders and their management companies; and managing agents instructing on behalf of a named client. We do not act for tenants.

Private landlords Portfolio & SPV owners Freeholders Resident management companies Right to Manage companies Managing agents Block & estate managers

04 — Regulatory position

What we are, and what we are not.

We publish this on the website, on the letterhead and in the footer of every email we send. A recipient who checks will find exactly what we told them.

What we are

A specialist arrears recovery and litigation support practice, acting only on written instruction from the party entitled to the debt.
Experienced in the drafting, service and evidencing of demands and statutory notices in residential and leasehold property.
Able to prepare a file to the standard a county court expects, including schedules, statements and exhibit bundles.
Able to instruct and manage a regulated firm or counsel on your behalf where a matter requires it.

What we are not

Not a firm of solicitors. We are not authorised or regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Not advisers on the law. We do not provide reserved legal services. Where advice is needed, we tell you so and arrange it.
Not litigators. We do not conduct litigation and we do not exercise rights of audience — both are reserved activities under the Legal Services Act 2007.
Not enforcement agents. We are not certificated bailiffs and we do not attend at properties to take control of goods.

05 — Notes from the file

Where arrears cases actually go wrong.

Written for landlords and freeholders, not for lawyers. Short, specific, and about the mistakes we see most often.

MV/N-021 · Possession

All insights

06 — Instruct us

Tell us about the matter.

We will come back within one working day with a view on whether it is a demand, a notice, or a file that needs building — and what it will cost.

Casework: casework@marchbankvale.co.uk
Enquiries: enquiries@marchbankvale.co.uk
Hours: Monday to Friday, 09:00–17:30
Post: Address for service available on request

Please do not send original documents. Scans and photographs are sufficient at the enquiry stage.