There is no official form to fill in. What matters is that the letter tells the debtor everything the court expects them to be told. Here is that structure, annotated, for a UK business-to-business unpaid invoice.
A compliant letter before action names both parties in full, states what is owed and how the amount is made up, gives the basis of any interest and compensation claimed, sets a clear response date, says how to pay, and states what may happen if the debt stays unpaid.
Each part below is annotated with a short illustrative line. The bracketed placeholders are there on purpose: these are examples of shape, not wording to copy. The letter that goes out has to describe your debt, in your words, with your figures.
Full legal names and addresses on both sides: your business as the creditor, and the debtor named the way a court would name them. A trading name on its own is not enough — check the registered name and company number at Companies House, and name the individual where the debtor is a sole trader.
From: [Your Company Ltd], [registered office]. To: [Debtor Ltd] (company number [00000000]), [registered office].
The invoice number and date, the contract or purchase order behind it, the date payment fell due, and the arithmetic from the invoice total to the sum now claimed. The protocol expects the debtor to be able to understand the claim and check it; a single total with no breakdown does not achieve that.
Invoice [number] dated [date] for [the supply], due [date]. Principal outstanding £[amount], after payments received of £[amount].
For a business-to-business debt you can normally claim statutory interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998: the Bank of England base rate plus 8 percentage points, as simple interest from the day payment became late, together with the fixed compensation sum under s.5A of £40, £70 or £100 by size of debt. Give the basis and the rate you are applying, and say that interest continues to run — not a figure you have not calculated from the actual dates.
Statutory interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 at the Bank of England base rate plus 8% a year from [due date], continuing until payment, plus fixed compensation of £[40 / 70 / 100] under s.5A.
A specific date, not “by return” or “immediately”. Commonly 14 days for a company debtor; the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims expects 30 days where the debtor is a sole trader or an individual. Date the letter, and diarise the deadline you set.
Please pay in full by [date], being 14 days from the date of this letter.
Payment details and a reference, so there is no excuse for delay and no doubt about what a payment relates to. It is also the place to invite the debtor to propose instalments or to explain a genuine dispute, and to say where a reply should be sent.
Payment by bank transfer to [account name], sort code [00-00-00], account [00000000], quoting reference [invoice number]. If you cannot pay in full, or you dispute any part of this sum, please write to [contact] by the same date.
A factual statement of the step you may take next — usually a claim in the County Court — and that interest, and where applicable court fees, may be added. Stating an intention is fine; overstating it is not, and a letter that threatens something you will not do weakens your position if the matter reaches a judge.
If payment is not received by [date], and you do not respond, we may issue a claim in the County Court without further notice to you.
Copies of the documents you rely on: the invoice, a statement of account, the contract or purchase order, evidence of delivery or completion, and the earlier reminders. Where the debtor is a sole trader or an individual, the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims annexes — information sheet, reply form and financial statement — go with the letter as well.
Enclosed: copy invoice [number], statement of account, purchase order [number], proof of delivery dated [date], and copies of our reminders of [dates].
A letter before action is usually read twice: once by the debtor, and once by a judge deciding whether you behaved reasonably before issuing a claim. Missing content is what costs you on the second reading.
A free template will give you a layout. It will not know whether your debtor is a company or a sole trader, which response window that implies, which protocol annexes have to go in the envelope, or what the statutory interest comes to between the due date and today. Those are the details a debtor's adviser looks at first.
RobinReturn prepares a solicitor-drafted letter before action populated from your case — the invoice figures, the statutory interest and compensation, and the correct response window — and keeps the audit trail of what was sent and when. There is no per-case solicitor review, and nothing here is legal advice.
RobinReturn is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. It is not a legal representative under CPR 2.3(1). This page describes the structure of a letter before action for a documented UK B2B invoice; if your debt is disputed, consumer-facing, high-value or legally complex, take advice from a solicitor.
Read the Pre-Action Protocol guide, work out the statutory interest or compare what an LBA costs.
No. Neither the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims nor Practice Direction — Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols prescribes a form of words. They set out what the debtor has to be told and how long they get to respond. A letter that covers those elements is compliant whatever its layout.
The full legal names and addresses of both parties, what the debt is and how the amount is made up, the basis of any interest and compensation claimed, a clear date for response, how to pay, what you may do if the debt stays unpaid, and copies of the documents you rely on.
Commonly 14 days for a company debtor. If the debtor is a sole trader or an individual, the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims expects 30 days and requires its own annexes — the information sheet, reply form and financial statement — to be sent with the letter.
For a business-to-business debt you can normally claim statutory interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 — the Bank of England base rate plus 8 percentage points as simple interest — plus the fixed compensation sum of £40, £70 or £100 under s.5A. State the basis and the rate rather than a figure you have not worked out from the real dates.
No. RobinReturn's letter before action is solicitor-drafted and version-controlled, and it is populated with your case details inside the app rather than published as a blank form. RobinReturn is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.
RobinReturn populates a solicitor-drafted letter before action from your case — the invoice figures, the statutory basis and the right response window — and tracks the deadline for you.