Moriarty Law: what a letter means and what to do

A solicitor’s letter about a debt is usually a step towards court, not the start of court action itself. You have time to check the debt, reply and get free advice, and replying is what stops things moving on without you. This guide covers England and Wales.

Who are Moriarty Law, and why are they contacting you?

Moriarty Law Limited is registered at Companies House under number 08432710. It was incorporated on 6 March 2013, is active, and has its registered office in Byfleet, Surrey. Its registered business activity is solicitors. Companies House shows its ownership changed in April 2023 and again in March 2024.

It is a licensed body (an alternative business structure) authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority since 3 December 2013, SRA number 607528. It describes its work as debt recovery, pre-litigation letters, litigation and managing repayment plans.

Is Moriarty Law regulated by the FCA?

We could not find Moriarty Law on the Financial Conduct Authority register (searched on 10 September 2026 under “Moriarty Law” and “Moriarty”). Its website gives its SRA number but no FCA number. The SRA register shows its authorisation allows it to carry on exempt regulated financial activities where they arise out of, or are complementary to, its legal work.

In practice, that means the SRA’s rules for solicitors are the main rules for how Moriarty Law treats you. If the creditor that instructed it is FCA-authorised, the FCA’s rules on treating customers in arrears fairly still apply to that creditor.

Who Moriarty Law acts for

Moriarty Law acts for creditors: its website refers to “our clients’ customers” and does not list who its clients are. The letter should name the creditor, which may be the company you originally owed or a company that has bought the debt. If you do not recognise the name, that is the first thing to query.

Is the debt yours, and is the amount right?

1. Check the letter against your own records: creditor, account number, dates and balance.
2. Write to Moriarty Law asking for the original creditor’s name, who owns the debt now and when it was transferred, and a full breakdown of the balance. See how to ask a creditor to prove a debt.
3. For a loan, credit card or catalogue account, ask the creditor that owns the debt for a copy of the credit agreement and a statement, with a £1 fee. It has 12 working days to reply and cannot enforce the agreement while it fails to do so.
4. Check your credit file with Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.
5. If the debt is old, check whether it is statute-barred before paying or acknowledging it. In England and Wales most debts cannot be recovered through the courts once 6 years have passed from when the creditor could first sue, and a payment or signed acknowledgement made before then restarts the clock.

Moriarty Law’s disputes page says that before court action it will investigate queries and provide the further information it holds about the case, and it recommends getting independent advice. If you dispute the debt, say so in writing with your reasons and keep a copy.

What can Moriarty Law do, and what can it not do?

The SRA Code of Conduct says solicitors must not abuse their position by taking unfair advantage of clients or others, and must not mislead anyone. SRA guidance on conduct in disputes says special care is needed with people who are not represented, and gives these as examples of poor conduct: artificially short deadlines, exaggerated claims about what will happen (including costs that are not legally recoverable), and letters written to intimidate.

Moriarty Law’s website says no costs are added to the balance at the pre-legal stage. After a court judgment, a creditor can ask the court for a warrant of control, an attachment of earnings order, a third party debt order or a charging order. A judgment on a regulated consumer credit agreement can only be enforced in the County Court. Other judgments of £600 or more can be transferred to the High Court for enforcement, and Moriarty Law’s disputes page notes that once a High Court writ of control is issued, dealings go through the High Court enforcement officers.

What should you do at each stage?

A first letter

Reply in writing, even if you cannot pay yet. Say if anything is wrong, ask for what you need, and tell the firm if you are getting debt advice. Moriarty Law’s website encourages people to get in touch and discuss settlement before court proceedings start.

A Letter of Claim

A Letter of Claim, also called a letter before claim or letter before action, is the formal notice a business must send before suing an individual under the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims. It should come with an information sheet, a reply form and a financial statement.

• You have 30 days from the date at the top of the letter to return the reply form. Without a reply, the creditor can issue a claim.
• If you say you are getting debt advice, the creditor should wait at least 30 days after it receives your reply form, or 30 days after it sends documents you asked for, whichever is later.
• If you ask for documents, the creditor must provide them, or explain why not, within 30 days.
• If you offer instalments and the creditor refuses, it should give you reasons in writing. If you agree a plan, it should not issue a claim while you keep to it.
• If you replied but no agreement was reached, the creditor should give you at least 14 days’ notice before starting court action.

A court claim form

A claim form means court action has started. Respond by the date on it: you can pay, admit the debt and ask for time to pay, admit part, or defend the claim, and you can ask for another 14 days if you are not paying in full. Our guide to a Money Claim Online claim form explains the options.

If you do nothing, the creditor can ask for a default judgment. A county court judgment stays on the public register for 6 years unless you pay it in full within one calendar month.

After a judgment

Pay what the court orders. Moriarty Law warns that breaking a court-ordered payment arrangement can lead to enforcement such as an attachment of earnings or a charging order. If you cannot keep up, contact the firm before you miss a payment and get debt advice about asking the court to change the order.

How do debt solutions affect Moriarty Law?

• Breathing Space stops creditors contacting you about included debts, adding interest or charges, or taking enforcement action, for up to 60 days (England and Wales only).
• A debt management plan is informal. Creditors do not have to agree to it, and can still take court action.
• An IVA is a legally binding agreement under the Insolvency Act 1986. Creditors bound by it cannot take further action to recover the debts included in it. Protocol IVAs usually run 5 or 6 years, fees come out of your payments, and it usually stays on your credit file for 6 years from the start. See does an IVA stop debt collectors?
• A debt relief order is for debts under £50,000, less than £75 a month spare, assets under £2,000 and a vehicle worth less than £4,000. Creditors cannot ask for payment of listed debts during the order.
• After a bankruptcy order, creditors owed debts in the bankruptcy have no remedy against your property or you personally for those debts.

Each option has costs, conditions and long-term effects. The debt solutions comparison sets them side by side. IVAs are available in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, not in Scotland.

How do you complain about Moriarty Law?

1. To Moriarty Law. Its complaints procedure says it tries to resolve complaints straight away, acknowledges them in writing within 3 working days if not, and has up to 8 weeks to send a final response.
2. To the creditor. You can complain to the creditor that instructed the firm as well.
3. Ombudsman. Moriarty Law’s procedure says its final response will tell you if you can take the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, within 6 months. It also names the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman deals with complaints about service from a lawyer, and says it cannot help with a complaint about somebody else’s service provider, so it may not be able to help if you are the person being chased rather than the firm’s client.
4. The SRA. If you think a solicitor has misled you, acted dishonestly or used threats with no legal basis, you can report it to the SRA. The SRA can warn, fine or restrict a firm, but cannot make it pay you compensation.

Our guide to dealing with debt collectors covers your wider rights.

Is this letter really from Moriarty Law?

• Check the firm on the SRA’s register of solicitors using SRA number 607528.
• Use contact details from your own paperwork, the creditor’s official website or the SRA register, not a number in an unexpected text or email.
• A genuine Letter of Claim names the creditor, gives a reference and includes a reply form.
• Be wary of pressure to pay immediately into an account you do not recognise. If unsure, ask the creditor whether it has instructed Moriarty Law.

What to do next

1. Note the date on the letter. If it is a Letter of Claim, return the reply form within 30 days.
2. Ask in writing for any documents you need before you pay.
3. Get free, impartial debt advice from MoneyHelper, StepChange, Citizens Advice or National Debtline. See where to get free debt advice.
4. If a claim form arrives, respond by the date on it.