Three names you will meet when chasing an unpaid invoice in England & Wales. Here is what each one means, and which rules apply to your letter.
They are the same thing in practice: a formal letter that sets out your claim and gives the other side a deadline before you go to court. ‘Letter of claim’ is the term the Pre-Action Protocols use; ‘letter before action’ is the everyday name. For a debt owed by a sole trader or individual, the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims says exactly what the letter must include.
Whatever you call it, the letter has the same job: tell the debtor what is owed, why, and what happens if they do not pay.
| Term | Where it is used | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Letter before action | The everyday name, used by businesses, solicitors and the courts. | A formal letter that sets out a claim and gives the other side a deadline to pay or respond before court proceedings are issued. |
| Letter before claim | Another everyday name for the same letter. | A letter before action by another name: the formal final demand sent before a claim is issued at court. |
| Letter of claim | The term the Pre-Action Protocols use, including the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims. | The formal pre-action letter as the protocols name it. For a debt owed by a sole trader or individual, it must follow the Protocol for Debt Claims and go with its information sheet and reply form. |
| Letter of demand | An informal demand, often sent earlier in the chase. | A written demand for payment. Close to a letter before action, but usually less formal and not always framed around the pre-action rules. |
The letter before action also has an entry in the glossary of debt-recovery terms.
What the letter must include depends on who owes you the money.
A limited company or LLP. The Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct applies. The letter should set out the claim concisely and give a reasonable time to respond, commonly 14 days in a straightforward case.
A sole trader or an individual. The Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims applies. The letter of claim gives 30 days to reply and must be sent with the protocol's information sheet and reply form.
Going to the small claims court next? See the letter before action before a small claim.
You will also see the term outside debt recovery.
Personal injury, construction and engineering, and professional negligence disputes each have their own pre-action protocol, and each uses ‘letter of claim’ with its own required contents and timescales. Those claims are outside RobinReturn's scope: it handles undisputed business-to-business invoices up to £10,000 in England & Wales.
The parties, the debt, the interest basis, the deadline, how to pay and the enclosures.
For what each part of the letter has to do, see what a letter before action must contain. To add statutory interest and fixed compensation, work out the statutory interest first.
The court expects you to follow pre-action conduct before issuing a claim, and for an unpaid invoice a letter before claim is how you do it. If you skip it, the court can take that into account on costs or interest, even if you win. For a sole trader or individual debtor, the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims sets out what the letter must include.
Close, but less formal. A letter of demand asks for payment; a letter before action or letter of claim also sets out the claim in full, gives a clear deadline and says a court claim may follow. Many businesses send a reminder or demand first and the letter before action last.
Yes, if the same debtor owes them all. List each invoice with its number, date, amount and due date, and show how the total is made up, including any interest and compensation claimed on each.
A solicitor-drafted letter before action, populated from your case, with the response window tracked for you. RobinReturn is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.
For undisputed invoices up to £10,000 owed by another business in England or Wales.
Related guidesThe Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims, explained · What to do when a customer will not pay · How to recover an unpaid invoice (step by step) · All guides