The verdict in three sentences
For a 25-person enforcement firm, the industry case management package remains the foundation: it carries regulated fee scales, client account bookkeeping and electronic service of documents. Custom development pays off where the package is weak, first of all the creditor portal and amicable recovery steering, for EUR 30,000 to 70,000 excl. VAT. Rewriting the whole core in custom code is almost always a budget mistake in 2026.
Figures below are 2026 estimates in EUR, based on a firm in Lille, France. A London firm of enforcement agents faces the same structure of costs; convert at roughly GBP 0.85 per EUR and adjust for local day rates.
What the industry package costs in 2026
Specialist vendors bill per seat and per usage. For a 25-person firm with 18 active seats, the 2026 order of magnitude is as follows.
| Cost item | 2026 range | Basis for 18 seats |
|---|---|---|
| Package subscription per seat | EUR 150 to 300 / month | EUR 32,400 to 64,800 / year |
| Amicable recovery module | EUR 300 to 900 / month | EUR 3,600 to 10,800 / year |
| Hosting, backup, disaster recovery | EUR 400 to 1,200 / month | EUR 4,800 to 14,400 / year |
| Data migration | EUR 8,000 to 25,000 | one-off |
| Staff training | EUR 600 to 1,200 / day | 4 to 8 days |
| Vendor's 'standard' creditor portal | often bundled, hard to customise | EUR 0 to 6,000 / year |
Recurring total: EUR 45,000 to 90,000 excl. VAT per year. That money buys compliance: regulated fee calculation, statutory registers, client money accounting, regulatory updates. That is exactly what you should not rebuild.
Where custom development really pays
The friction point in 2026 is large creditors: social landlords, lenders, telecom operators, law firms. They want to submit cases in bulk, track progress in real time and get their money back without calling the firm. The vendor's standard portal handles this poorly.
| Custom component | 2026 budget excl. VAT | Lead time | Expected effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creditor portal (submission, tracking, documents) | EUR 18,000 to 35,000 | 8 to 12 weeks | -40 to -60% inbound calls |
| Bulk import (CSV, creditor API) | EUR 6,000 to 12,000 | 3 to 5 weeks | 500 cases submitted in 10 min |
| Electronic service platform integration | EUR 5,000 to 15,000 | 4 to 6 weeks | writ status synced without re-keying |
| Recovery dashboard (rates, delays, collections) | EUR 4,000 to 10,000 | 3 to 4 weeks | steering per creditor and per clerk |
| Automated amicable reminders (SMS, email, letter) | EUR 5,000 to 10,000 | 3 to 5 weeks | +8 to +15% amicable collections |
| Online debtor payments | EUR 3,000 to 8,000 | 2 to 3 weeks | instalment plans tracked automatically |
A complete project lands between EUR 30,000 and 70,000 excl. VAT over 4 to 6 months, testing included. The architecture rule is simple: the package stays the source of truth for writs and accounts, the custom layer reads and writes through the APIs or exports the vendor provides. Check before signing that your vendor opens those interfaces and at what price; some charge EUR 100 to 300 a month for API access.
Constraints specific to the profession
Three points frame the specification. Regulated fees are never recalculated in the portal: it displays what the package computed. Client money follows the firm's dedicated accounting, so the portal shows collections and remittances, it does not generate them. Finally, professional secrecy and GDPR (UK GDPR in London) require hosting in the EU or UK, access logging and strict per-creditor isolation.
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Maître Lefebvre, partner of a 25-person firm in Lille, finds that 3 clerks each spend about 12 hours a week answering creditors by phone and email. Over 46 weeks, that is 1,656 hours, or roughly EUR 49,700 of loaded cost at EUR 30 an hour. He orders a creditor portal with bulk import and automated reminders for EUR 48,000 excl. VAT, plus EUR 6,000 a year for maintenance and hosting. If the portal removes half of those requests, the saving is about EUR 24,800 a year, on top of 10% more amicable collections on a portfolio where the firm earns its fees. Estimated payback: 18 to 24 months, without touching the package.
FAQ
Should we replace the industry package with custom software?
Rarely. The package costs EUR 150 to 300 per seat per month but carries regulated fees and client money accounting, which would cost over EUR 200,000 to rebuild. Custom work plugs in around it.
How much does a custom creditor portal cost in 2026?
Budget EUR 18,000 to 35,000 excl. VAT for the portal alone and EUR 30,000 to 70,000 with bulk import, reminders and the dashboard. Lead time is 4 to 6 months.
Can the portal track electronically served writs?
Yes, if the service platform or the package exposes a usable status. The integration costs EUR 5,000 to 15,000 and removes manual status updates by clerks.
Where should debtor data be hosted?
In the EU or the UK, with encryption, access logging and daily backups. Secure hosting runs around EUR 300 to 800 a month for a firm of this size.
What gain should we expect on amicable recovery?
Automated multichannel reminders lift amicable collections by 8 to 15% depending on the portfolio. On 12,000 files a year, a few points are enough to fund the project.
Let's scope your project. Send us your writ volume, your current package and your three largest creditors: we will price the portal, the integrations and the timeline. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
