Letter before action · unpaid commercial invoice

Get paid. A letter before action with the interest on it.

For a business-to-business debt in England and Wales under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. You fill in the invoice, we put the statutory interest and compensation on a letter you can print. You send it. We do not send it, we do not start a claim, and we are not a solicitor or a collection agency.

Not for consumers chasing shops. Not for personal debts. If the other side was not acting in the course of a business, this statutory rate does not apply.

Invoice amount (GBP)

Invoice date

When it was due

Days from invoice to due

Both of us were acting in the course of a business. Required for the 1998 Act. Tick this only if it is true. Your business (creditor) Their business (debtor) Their address (optional, for the letter)

Invoice number

Pay-by deadline

Description of the work

Their payment goes to you. Type your own bank details. Never ours.

Your account name (payee)

Your sort code

Your account number

Five invoices · £99

Same letter, five times. Pay £99 to the same Starling account, reference SENDTHIS-5. Tell us how to reach you. We will send the pack. This is not a five-invoice editor — the one-invoice generator above is the product.

How the figures are worked out

Same method as the free late-pay calculator. Statutory interest is 8% plus the Bank of England Bank Rate for business-to-business debts. Simple interest, not compound. Yearly interest = invoice × rate; daily interest = yearly ÷ 365; then multiply by the number of days late. Bank Rate used here is 3.75%, so the statutory rate is 11.75% a year.

Compensation is a once-per-invoice recovery sum: £40 (up to £999.99), £70 (£1,000 to £9,999.99), £100 (£10,000 or more).

Official pages:

GOV.UK: Late commercial payments — interest and debt recovery
GOV.UK: Interest on late commercial payments
GOV.UK: Claim debt recovery costs
Practice Direction — Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols (live URL; the GOV.UK publications page for this direction did not resolve)

Send This is software that drafts a letter from what you type. It is not a law firm, not a solicitor, and not a collection agency. We do not send the letter, we do not talk to the debtor, and we do not start a county court claim. The 1998 Act applies to commercial debts where both parties were acting in the course of a business; it is not for consumers chasing shops. Check GOV.UK (and a solicitor if the amount is material) before you rely on a figure or send a letter. Interest and compensation are calculated the same way as on our late-pay calculator. The pay-by date is a date you choose, defaulting to 14 days from today — not a court deadline we invented. £49 is for the document, not a result. Honour system.