Why RobinReturn

The right tool
for the right size of debt.

A £40,000 contract dispute belongs at a high-street firm. A £180 unpaid invoice doesn’t. We sit in the middle, where most of the country’s SME debt actually lives.

The alternatives

Five paths. Five trade-offs.

I
Write it off.
What it costs
100% of the debt
When it works
When the debt is < £200 and the relationship matters more
Sometimes the right answer. But it teaches debtors that you don’t chase, which becomes the bigger problem.
II
Send it yourself.
What it costs
Hours of your time
When it works
For the first reminder, especially with long-term clients
Fine for the first reminder. By stage two, every email you write erodes the relationship a little more. Distance is what makes a formal letter work.
III
Engage a high-street solicitor.
What it costs
£250–£400 / hour, often a £1,500 retainer
When it works
Disputes > £15,000 or with contractual complexity
The right call when the debt is large or contested. The maths rarely works under £5,000.
IV
Engage a collections agency.
What it costs
15–35% of the recovered sum
When it works
When you don’t expect to work with the debtor again
Aggressive scripts work — but they end relationships. The percentage fee is the obvious cost; the lost client is the real one.
RR
RobinReturn.
What it costs
From £2 per case · pay-per-action
When it works
Invoices £100 to £10,000, where the relationship matters
The middle path. Tone of a friend, structure of a formal letter, audit trail of a court process. We are deliberately wrong for some cases — see options I and III above.
The alternatives

Why not just call a solicitor?

You can — and for a £40,000 contract dispute, you should. RobinReturn is built for the £100 to £10,000 invoices that ordinarily slip through the cracks: too small to interest a high-street firm, too important to write off, too relationship-sensitive for a collection agency.

ApproachCost shapeSpeedToneVisibility
High-street solicitor£250–£400 / hour + retainerWeeks per stageFormal · adversarialLimited client visibility
Collection agency15–35% of recovered sumAggressive · fastScripts · pressureDamages relationships
DIY · Money Claim OnlineCourt fees onlySlow without an LBAYours to draftSelf-service
RobinReturnFrom £2 per case · pay-per-actionMost cases settle before courtFirm · relationship-safeLive audit trail