1. Send a polite reminder
Start with a clear, professional reminder that the invoice is overdue, stating the amount and how to pay. Most disputes are really just drift, and a firm reminder is often enough to get paid.
Guide
How to recover
an unpaid invoice.
Recovering a late B2B invoice in England & Wales follows a clear path: a reminder, a Letter Before Action, then a County Court claim. Here is what each stage involves and when to take the next one.
Direct answer
To recover an unpaid invoice, escalate in three steps: a polite reminder, then a formal Letter Before Action if it is ignored, then a County Court claim. For an undisputed business debt up to £10,000 you can do each step yourself, adding statutory interest and compensation along the way.
TL;DR
- Step 1 — a polite reminder (from £2.00).
- Step 2 — a Letter Before Action (£9.50).
- Step 3 — a County Court claim (prep £35.00).
- Add statutory interest + fixed compensation.
- For undisputed B2B debts up to £10,000, England & Wales.
The three stages
Escalate,
one step at a time.
Each step is a chance for the debtor to pay before the next, firmer one. You decide when to escalate — nothing is automatic.
2. Send a Letter Before Action
If the reminder is ignored, escalate to a formal Letter Before Action — a written warning, following the Pre-Action Protocol, that a court claim will follow if the debt is not settled by a stated deadline (commonly 14 days for a company, 30 for a sole trader).
3. Issue a County Court claim
If the deadline passes, the final step is a County Court claim, usually through Money Claim Online. RobinReturn prepares the Claim Form and Particulars of Claim; you file and the case can end in a County Court Judgment.
Before you start, it is worth checking two things: that the debt is undisputed, and that it is within the time limit to claim. You can also work out the interest and compensation you are entitled to add, and read how the Pre-Action Protocol shapes the Letter Before Action stage.
FAQs
Common questions,
answered.
How do I recover an unpaid invoice in the UK?
Work through three stages: a polite reminder, then a formal Letter Before Action if it is ignored, then a County Court claim. For an undisputed B2B debt up to £10,000 in England & Wales you can do this yourself, and RobinReturn prepares the documents at each step.
How much does it cost to recover an invoice?
RobinReturn is pay-per-action: a reminder from £2.00, a Letter Before Action at £9.50, and claim preparation at £35.00. There is no subscription and no commission; the HMCTS court fee, paid to the court, is separate and itself recoverable.
Can I add interest to what I'm owed?
Yes. On an undisputed commercial debt you can add statutory interest (Bank of England base rate plus 8%) and a fixed compensation sum, both recoverable from the debtor and kept by you.
What if the debt is disputed?
If the customer genuinely disputes the goods or service, that is not a simple late payment and may need legal advice — it falls outside this workflow. RobinReturn is built for undisputed debts and is not a law firm.
Start at step one,
for £2.00.
Begin with a reminder and escalate only if you need to. RobinReturn is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.