What do I do when a client won't pay my freelance invoice (UK)?

Check the contract, confirm the invoice arrived, and send a short written reminder with the amount and the original due date. Note whether the client is a business or a consumer, because statutory interest only applies business-to-business. Keep every email. If they still do not pay, send a letter before action.

A first chase is calm and specific:

• the invoice number and date
• the amount
• the due date in the contract, or the date you invoiced
• the account details
• a short new deadline of 7 days

Check the signed payment terms before you write. If the paper already lets you pause work, say you will use that right. If it ties IP assignment to full payment, say the licencelicenceA licence is permission to use work in an agreed way, without taking ownership away from the person who made it.More in the glossary or transfer has not happened yet.

Keep the tone factual. Save the thread. This page is for England and Wales; procedure in Scotland and Northern Ireland is different.

Yes, on a business-to-business invoice. The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 implies a right to statutory interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate. It does not apply to consumer clients. If your contract already sets a different interest rate, that contractual rate applies instead of the statutory one.

The Act is on legislation.gov.uk. GOV.UK guidance on late commercial payments states the statutory rate as 8% plus the Bank of England base rate. We do not print a base-rate figure here because it changes; look up the current rate when you calculate.

A few limits that catch people out:

• Business to business only. Both sides need to be acting in the course of a business. A couple booking a wedding album is a consumer. A brand booking a campaign is not.
• A contract rate replaces the statutory rate. If your freelancer agreement already names an interest rate, that is the rate you point to, not the Act’s default.
• Simple interest, running from the day after the debt is due.

For the usual wording, see the payment terms clause and Net 30, net 14, on receipt.

Once statutory interest starts on a qualifying business debt, you can also claim a fixed recovery sum: £40 under £1,000, £70 from £1,000 to £9,999.99, and £100 at £10,000 or more. That sits on top of the interest, under the same 1998 Act. It does not apply to consumer clients.

Section 5A of the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 sets the fixed sums:

That compensation is in addition to the statutory interest. If reasonable recovery costs come to more than the fixed sum, the Act also lets you claim the difference.

Again: this is a business-to-business right. Put the amount you claim in the letter before action, with a line that shows how you worked out the interest, and cite the Act. GOV.UK’s late commercial payments page walks through the same figures.

Name the parties, the unpaid invoice, the amount, the due date, and the deadline you are now giving. Give 14 days, or 30 days if the debtor is an individual under the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims. Attach the invoice, say you will start a court claim if they do not pay, and keep the letter factual.

A working letter before action covers:

• who you are, and who they are, with full legal names
• the invoice number, date, amount and original due date
• the work the invoice was for
• interest and any fixed compensation, with the statute named if you are claiming them
• how to pay
• the new deadline
• that you intend to start a court claim if they do not pay or dispute it by then

How long to give. Fourteen days is the window for a company debtor. If the debtor is an individual, including a sole trader, the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims applies and you wait 30 days from the letter of claim before issuing. The protocol also asks for extra forms; read it on justice.gov.uk rather than copying a template from memory.

The letter itself is an open letter, so you can show a court you gave notice. Settlement offers sit in a separate without prejudicewithout prejudice"Without prejudice" is a label commonly put on settlement communications to signal they are not meant to be used as evidence against the sender.More in the glossary note. Do not mix the two in one confusing email.

Send it in a way you can prove: email plus post if you have a postal address. Keep the signed contract, the invoice and the chase thread with it.

In England and Wales you start a money claim, online through Money Claim Online or the HMCTS online money claims service. Claims up to £10,000 are allocated to the small claims track. Do not guess the court fee: look it up on the official gov.uk fees page, because the amounts change.

GOV.UK’s guide is Make a court claim for money. You can start most specified money claims online through HMCTS (including Money Claim Online). You will need the defendant’s legal name and address, the amount, and a short particulars of claim.

Small claims track. In England and Wales the small claims track is the normal track for claims with a financial value of not more than £10,000. That is the band most freelance invoices sit in.

Fees. Court fees change. We do not list amounts here. Check the current figures on GOV.UK court fees for money claims.

If you get a judgment and they still do not pay, that same GOV.UK guide covers what happens next. None of this is a reason to skip the letter before action. The court will expect you to have tried.

This section is England and Wales only. If the contract names another place, or the client is elsewhere, the claim route is different. Instruct a solicitor for a high-value claim or a defendant outside England and Wales — see /lawyers.

You can still invoice, chase and, if needed, claim. A contract can be formed by emails, a brief, and doing the work. It is harder to prove the due date, the fee and what was in scope. Gather the brief, emails, files and invoices. For the next job, get the terms signed before you start.

What to collect:

• the brief, proposal or statement of workstatement of workA statement of work (SOW) is a document that describes the specific work, deliverables, timeline and fees for one project.More in the glossary, even if it was never signed
• emails and messages that name the fee, dates or deliverables
• the files you delivered
• the invoice and every chase

A court can still find a contract from that paper trail. What it cannot invent is a 14-day due date, a kill feekill feeA kill fee is a payment due to a creator or supplier when a client cancels a project before it is finished.More in the glossary or an IP transfer on payment if nobody agreed those words. Statutory interest under the 1998 Act can still apply to a business-to-business qualifying debt even without a written interest clause.

In England and Wales, an action on a simple contract cannot be brought after six years from when the cause of action accrued (Limitation Act 1980, s.5). Do not sit on an old invoice until that window is a guess.

Next time, start from a freelancer agreement or how to write a contract and sign one shared version before the work starts.

Write the money terms into the contract before you start: a depositdepositA deposit is money paid up front, before the main work or the final invoice.More in the glossary, milestonemilestoneA milestone is a defined point in a project, often tied to a deliverable and a payment.More in the glossary invoices, a due date such as 14 or 30 days, late-payment interestlate feeA late fee is an extra charge, or interest, added when an invoice is not paid by the due date.More in the glossary, a right to pause work, a kill fee if they cancel, and IP or licence rights that transfer only on full payment. Those lines are easier to agree on one shared draft than later.

The clauses that actually change behaviour:

• Deposit or upfront payment. Work does not start until the first slice lands. See payment terms.
• Milestone invoices. Each stage has a fee, so the last unpaid slice is smaller.
• A named due date. Net 14 or net 30Net 30Net 30 means the client has 30 days from the invoice date to pay.More in the glossary from the invoice date, not “on completion” with no clock. Net 30, net 14, on receipt explains when the clock starts.
• Late-payment interest. Either the 1998 Act or a rate you both name. The late fee page covers the usual swap if they strike the line.
• Right to pause work if an invoice is overdue. Often more useful day to day than interest.
• IP or licence on payment only. Ownership or usage moves when the invoice is cleared, not when you email the files. See intellectual property assignment.
• Kill fee if they cancel, plus what is paid for work done. The termination clause is the home for the exit.

Example

The Client will pay 40% on signature and the balance within 14 days of each invoice date. If an invoice is unpaid 7 days after it is due, the Freelancer may pause the work until it is paid. Late sums carry interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. Rights in the Deliverables transfer only on payment in full.

In Plain English: some money first, two weeks to pay each invoice, work can stop if they are a week late, and they do not own the files until they have paid.

What goes in a freelance or contractor agreement and contracts for freelancers walk through the rest of the paper.

Related: if they are using the files without paying, see Client using your work without paying. If they cancelled and you are holding a deposit, see Client cancelled: can you keep the deposit?.

On Contracts.io both sides draft, negotiate and e-signe-signatureAn e-signature is any electronic way of showing agreement to a document, such as a typed name, a drawn signature or a click.More in the glossary one shared contract, so the payment termspayment termsPayment terms say how much is paid, when the clock starts, and what happens if an invoice is late.More in the glossary are the version you both signed. Lex, our AI assistant, helps you write a deposit, milestones, a due date and a pause-on-late-payment line in Plain English. The client opens one link. Nobody emails v4_final back and forth.

You describe the job in a sentence. Lex drafts a freelancer agreement or statement of work. You share one link. The client can Accept, Counter or Decline on that same version, then both of you e-sign it. The other side never pays and does not need an account.

That does not chase an invoice for you. It does mean the due date, the deposit and the pause right are the words you both signed, not a line lost in email.