Chasing an unpaid invoice

Letter before action generator

Build a formal letter before action for an unpaid invoice. It uses the right wording, deadline and rules depending on whether the customer is an individual or a limited company. Read the full guide

Everything you enter stays in your browser. Nothing is sent to us or saved on our servers.

Step 1

Who owes you?

This sets the rules the letter follows. Not sure if the customer is a limited company? Check the Companies House register.

An individual or sole traderA person, or someone trading in their own name. Longer rules apply.A limited companyA registered company, with “Ltd” or “Limited” in its name.

Step 2

The details

Your name or trading name *

Your address *

Your email

Your phone

We suggest filling in at least one of these, or both, so the customer can reach you.

Their company name *

Their address *

Invoice number(s) *

What the work was *

Amount outstanding *

Date payment was due *

Date of this letter

Days to respond14 days is commonly treated as reasonable for a company.

Add statutory interest and compensationStatutory interest and a fixed sum under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.

Bank of England base rate

This is 8% above the Bank of England base rate that applied on the last 30 June or 31 December before your invoice was due. We do not have the rate for this period yet, so enter it from GOV.UK.

Statutory interest

£0.00

Fixed compensation

Set automatically from the amount owed: £40 for debts under £1,000, £70 up to £10,000, £100 for £10,000 or more. Override or clear it if you are not claiming it.

Total now owed£0.00

Step 3 · Your letter

[Your name]
[Your address]

2 June 2026

[Their name]
[Their address]

Dear Sir or Madam

LETTER BEFORE ACTION

Re: Unpaid invoice [invoice number]

I am writing about money owed to me for work I carried out for [Their name].

The work was as follows: [describe the work]. I invoiced this work under [invoice number], and payment of [amount] fell due on [due date]. That amount remains unpaid.

The total now owed is [amount].

I would be grateful if you would pay the amount owed within 14 days of the date of this letter. Payment can be made to the account details I will provide on request, or which appear on the original invoice.

If I do not receive payment, or hear from you with a proposal to resolve this, within 14 days, I intend to begin court proceedings to recover the debt without further notice. This may add court fees and further interest to the amount you owe.

I would prefer to settle this matter without going to court, and I am willing to discuss it if there is anything you wish to raise.

Yours faithfully

[Your name]

Send by post, ideally recorded or signed-for so you can prove it went, and keep a copy. A provable method is sensible even though a company gives you more freedom over how you send it.

This tool produces a letter from the details you enter. It is not legal advice. If the debt is disputed, large, or you are unsure how to proceed, consider speaking to a solicitor or a free service such as Citizens Advice.

Want to understand the process first?

The full guide covers when to send a letter before action, what changes for individuals and companies, charging interest, and what comes next if it is ignored.

Read the letter before action guide →