What should I say when chasing an invoice?

State the invoice reference, verified outstanding balance and due date. Check receipt and ask what is preventing payment or when payment is expected.

What if the customer disputes the work?

Ask which item is disputed and check the accepted scope, approved additions and work evidence. Record the disputed and undisputed items and agree the next response.

Can I add statutory interest to a domestic customer’s bill?

The statutory commercial-payment rules apply to qualifying business debts, not automatically to private consumer invoices. Check the contract and applicable process before claiming interest.

Can I give seven days before a court claim?

Use the applicable pre-action process. The England and Wales debt protocol for a business claiming from an individual, including a sole trader, provides at least 30 days to respond to the letter of claim and its accompanying documents.

Chasing unpaid invoices: what to send and what to check

Check the invoice before chasing the person

First confirm the invoice was sent to the instructed recipient, the amount matches the agreed work and any approved additions, and the balance is still unpaid. Then ask what is preventing payment. Your next message should respond to that answer.

The person who arranged access may not be the payer. A landlord, tenant and managing agent can have different roles. Use the confirmed arrangement and keep the quote, invoice and replies with the same job. Do not chase the occupier because their number is easiest to find.

Choose the next action from the reply

Situation	What to do	Record
No reply	Check receipt and the instructed recipient	Invoice reference, balance and due date
Wrong recipient	Confirm who should receive it and resend securely	Confirmed instruction and send date
Promised payment	Agree date; check receipt before following up	Promised date; unpaid until verified
Disputed work or price	Ask which item; review scope and evidence	Disputed and undisputed items separately
Payment difficulty	Discuss a specific arrangement you can accept	Amounts, dates and written agreement
Still unresolved	Choose the applicable recovery process	Correspondence and supporting documents

A fixed day-seven/day-fourteen script is less useful than knowing why the invoice is unpaid. Agree follow-up dates where possible and check for a reply or payment before each contact.

Reminder wording you can copy

First reminder

Email subject: Invoice [reference] for [job]

“Hi [name], invoice [reference] for [amount] was due on [date] and our records show [balance] outstanding. I’ve attached the invoice again. Could you confirm it reached the right person and when payment is expected? Thanks, [name].”

Short text: “Hi [name], I’m checking invoice [reference] for [job], due [date]. Our records show [balance] outstanding. Did it reach you, and is there anything you need to arrange payment?”

After a promised date

“Hi [name], you expected to pay invoice [reference] on [date]. I’ve checked and the payment has not reached us. Could you confirm the payment status or a revised date? If already sent, please share the reference so we can reconcile it.”

When the invoice is disputed

“Thanks for explaining. Which item on invoice [reference] do you dispute, and what outcome are you asking for? I’ll check it against the agreed quote and work record and reply by [date].”

Use the actual invoice link or payment details you have verified. Do not send bank details copied from an unrelated job or mark payment received from a customer’s promise.

Fictional example: access contact is not the invoice recipient

Fictional job J-051. A tenant arranged access for a repair. The stored agreement names the landlord as the customer and instructs the invoice to a managing agent. The tenant has no payment responsibility recorded.

The office finds that invoice I-051 was sent to the landlord instead of the instructed agent. The next action is confirming the instruction and sending the invoice correctly, not chasing the tenant.
The agent replies that a purchase-order reference is missing. The office obtains the confirmed reference, updates the document and records the replacement version.
The agent then disputes an additional-work line. The office checks the approval. If approval is missing, the line is not treated as an agreed addition; resolve the amount before another reminder.
Once the corrected amount is accepted, the agent promises Friday payment. The office records Friday as the next check. Only a verified payment updates the invoice as paid.

Keep dates, revisions and replies. A corrected invoice may change what is due; do not silently reuse the original balance or assume a new due date without agreement.

Business late-payment rights are different from consumer debts

GOV.UK says statutory interest for qualifying late business payments is 8% plus the Bank of England base rate. A different contractual interest rate changes what can be claimed. Fixed recovery compensation is £40 for a debt below £1,000, £70 from £1,000 to £9,999.99 and £100 from £10,000. Check the qualifying debt and applicable rate before calculating.

These commercial-payment rules do not create the same right on a private consumer invoice. Do not paste a statutory-interest threat into every reminder. The customer’s role, contract and debt matter.

Sources: GOV.UK: Interest on late commercial payments, GOV.UK: Fixed debt recovery costs

Before formal recovery, use the applicable process

For a business claiming a debt from an individual, including a sole trader, the England and Wales Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims sets out a letter of claim and accompanying information/reply forms, with at least 30 days for a response before proceedings. Other disputes can follow a different protocol. A casual seven-day “final warning” is not a substitute.

Keep the agreement, quote revisions, approved additions, invoice, work evidence and correspondence. Address disputed items and consider resolution before proceedings. Use the official debt protocol and GOV.UK money-claim guidance for the relevant route and current fees. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate court processes.

A judgment does not itself establish that money has been received. Continue to reconcile the payment record.

Sources: Ministry of Justice: Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims, GOV.UK: Make a court claim for money

Make the next invoice easier to pay

Confirm the customer, approver, invoice recipient and payer before work starts.
Put scope, price, payment terms and any agreed deposit in the quote.
Get separate approval for additional work.
Send the invoice with the correct reference and verified payment route once ready.
Record part payments, disputed lines and promises separately.

Tradehand’s invoice-chasing workflow keeps the invoice and replies with the job. The Assistant is available on Free; paid plans add automation and more usage. Check current pricing before choosing the workflow. For invoice layout, use the free invoice template.