Placement fee unpaid? Rebate disputed?
For permanent and contract recruitment agencies whose business clients will not pay a fee.
How can a recruitment agency recover an unpaid placement fee?
Use your terms of business as the evidence and refer the dispute to Dispute Neutral. If the client agrees, an independent lawyer decides whether the fee or rebate is due, with a binding decision within 10 business days of the matter being ready and a fixed fee.
Disputes we decide
Common reasons payment stops in your sector.
Rebate and refund periods
"The candidate left in week five, so we’re not paying."
Back-door hires
A client hires a candidate you introduced, directly or later, without paying the introduction fee.
Temp-to-perm transfer fees
Fees for a worker taken on permanently. Your terms must comply with the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003.
Salary used for the fee
Disagreement about the starting salary or package the fee is based on.
Why use Dispute Neutral
- Your signed terms of business usually decide these disputes.
- Fixed fee from £650 + VAT: typical placement fees fall in the £900 or £1,200 bands.
- Private and quick, so the client relationship can survive.
- No need for a solicitor on either side.
Both businesses must agree to use Dispute Neutral, either through a clause in your terms or once the dispute has arisen. How to ask them.
- Example
- An agency is owed a £9,000 placement fee; the client says the rebate period applies. The Dispute Neutral fee is £900 + VAT, fixed.
- Amount in dispute
- £9,000
- Dispute Neutral fee
- £900 + VATfixed; can be split 50:50
- Decision
- 10 business daysfrom when both sides’ documents are in
Settle future disputes before they start
Add our clause to your terms of business, so fee disputes go straight to an agreed route.
Questions
Do our terms need to be signed?
It helps to show the client agreed them. Emails accepting your terms, or engaging you after receiving them, can also be evidence. The neutral considers all the documents.
How much does it cost?
One fixed fee set by the amount in dispute: £650 + VAT up to £4,000, £900 up to £10,000, £1,200 up to £25,000 and £1,500 up to £150,000. For example, a £9,000 dispute costs £900 + VAT. The fee can be split 50:50.
Does the other business have to agree?
Yes. Both businesses must agree, either through a Dispute Neutral clause in your terms or once the dispute has arisen. We provide a ready-made invitation you can send, and free clauses you can add to your terms so future disputes come to us automatically.
Is the decision binding?
Yes. Both businesses sign an agreement to accept the decision before the case starts. It is final and binding except for fraud or manifest error. If it is not followed, it can be enforced; depending on the matter, by applying straight for summary judgment or serving a statutory demand.
How long does it take?
The decision is issued within 10 business days of the matter being ready, meaning both businesses have signed and uploaded their documents. There is no hearing.
Useful guides
- Recovering unpaid professional feesFor accountants, architects, engineers, agencies, consultants and freelancers.Article
- Letter before action for unpaid invoicesWhat to include, how to send it and what to do if it is ignored.Guide
- Add Dispute Neutral to your contractsFree clauses for your business terms, so any dispute comes straight to an independent decision.Clauses
Get a binding decision in 10 business days
Fixed fees from £650 + VAT. Both businesses agree, send their documents, and an independent lawyer decides.
Prevent the next one: add our free clause to your terms of business.