A client refusing to pay does not start in court. It starts with what your paperwork proves and how the first chase is worded. Most refusals are resolved without a lawyer; the ones that are not are won by whoever kept the records. Here is the sequence, from first chase to final escalation, for a UK trade invoice.
- Establish why they refuse: dispute, cashflow or stalling, the response differs.
- Chase in writing from day one; every message is evidence.
- Statutory interest and compensation accrue on late commercial payments.
- A letter before action is the formal escalation before small claims.
- Small claims court (England & Wales) handles most trade debts cheaply.
First: work out what kind of refusal it is
“They won’t pay” is three different problems:
- A dispute about the work: snagging, alleged defects, missing items. This is the most common and the most fixable; no invoice is truly overdue while a genuine dispute stands, and a dispute resolved in your favour revives the full debt.
- A cashflow refusal: they do not dispute the work, they cannot pay today. Payment plans and staged settlements recover more than threats do.
- A strategic refusal: using your money as their financing, hoping you go away. This is the one that needs the legal escalation path.
The response is different for each, and the mistake is treating the third like the first.
The escalation sequence
1. The polite chase: due date to day 14. Assume nothing is wrong; reminders catch honest oversights. Written, factual, one line: invoice number, amount, due date, payment details. If your terms included late-payment interest, mention it now: standard reminder wording covers days 7, 14 and 30.
2. The firm chase: day 14 to 30. Name the consequence: statutory interest and late-payment compensation are accruing, and you will pursue the full amount. Keep working if a payment plan appears: paper over nothing, but recover the money.
3. The letter before action: before court. A short, dated letter stating the debt, the work done, the total now owed with interest, and a deadline (14 days is standard) before court proceedings. In England & Wales this is a required step in the pre-action protocol, skipping it weakens your claim and can cost you costs. No solicitor needed for small debts; a letter on your letterhead, sent so you can prove delivery, is a letter before action.
4. Small claims court. For debts within the small claims limit (typically up to £10,000 in England & Wales), you issue online, the fee is modest and scales with the amount, and most cases settle before hearing. The letter before action does most of its work before the claim is even issued. You can claim the court fee and, in many cases, the statutory interest alongside the debt. Scotland and Northern Ireland run their own equivalents (simple procedure; small claims court).
5. Enforcement. Winning is not collecting. If they still do not pay, the options are enforcement officers, attachment of earnings, or a charging order. Each costs more than the last. That is why the cheap stages are worth doing properly.
What wins the case before it starts
- A signed quote or written agreement for the work and the price.
- The invoice itself: issued promptly, with the right legal requirements met, dated and numbered.
- Evidence of delivery: photos, sign-offs, messages accepting the work.
- A documented chase trail, every reminder with its date.
Businesses that lose money on refusals almost always lost the paperwork first. Statutory interest and compensation by debt size shows exactly what you can add to the invoice when it goes late.
Where it goes wrong in practice
- Invoicing months after the job, the memory on both sides fades and the dispute window widens. Invoice on completion or at the stage agreed.
- Threatening court in the first message, you lose the cashflow refusals that a payment plan would have recovered.
- Continuing work mid-dispute. Get the outstanding amount agreed in writing before adding more value to a job already in dispute.
- Letting it age silently, the older the debt, the weaker the recovery odds; escalation has a clock on it.
FAQ
Can I charge interest if a client refuses to pay?
Yes, for business-to-business debts, the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 gives you statutory interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate plus fixed compensation per invoice, unless your contract specifies different terms.
What is a letter before action?
A written warning that you will start court proceedings unless the debt is paid by a stated deadline, usually 14 days. For small debts it does not need a solicitor, and in England & Wales it is a required step before issuing a claim.
Is small claims court worth it for a trades invoice?
For debts up to roughly £10,000 in England & Wales, yes: the process is online, the fee scales with the amount and can be added to the claim, and most cases settle once the claim is issued. Weigh the fee against what you can actually enforce.
What if the client disputes the quality of the work?
Treat it as a negotiation first: inspect, agree snags, fix what is genuinely wrong, then re-present the invoice for the balance. A court will expect you to have tried: and a genuine defect can reduce or defeat the claim.
How long do I have to chase an unpaid invoice?
The limitation period for most simple contract debts is 6 years from the due date in England & Wales: but recovery odds fall sharply with age, so escalate in weeks, not years.
Can I stop working on a job if the client won’t pay an earlier stage?
Check your contract: many give a right to suspend for non-payment, and statutory schemes can apply to construction contracts. Get the position in writing before suspending, and never walk off mid-job without documenting why.
One last thing
Refusals are survived by paperwork, not by temper. Invoice promptly, chase on a schedule, escalate on written deadlines, and let software hold the trail: Sendinvo records every invoice, reminder and payment so the evidence file assembles itself.