Most freelancers chasing a late invoice do it the same way: a polite email, then a slightly less polite one, then a gap, then an apologetic nudge that somehow ends up apologising for asking to be paid. What almost nobody does is charge for it, even though the law in the UK gives them an explicit right to.
That right is not a grey area or a contract clause you have to negotiate. It applies by default to business-to-business transactions, and it is worth real money.
When an invoice is legally late
If you agreed payment terms, those terms decide it. If you did not, the law fills the gap: payment becomes late 30 days after the later of two events, the customer receiving the invoice or you delivering the goods or services.
That default matters for anyone who works on a handshake and a purchase order. You do not need a signed contract containing a late payment clause to be owed interest. Silence puts you on the statutory 30 days.
What you can charge
Two separate things, and you can claim both on the same invoice.
Statutory interest on business-to-business debts runs at 8 per cent above the Bank of England base rate. With the base rate at 3.75 per cent, that is 11.75 per cent a year at the time of writing. It does not apply where your contract sets a different rate, and you cannot be held to a lower rate on contracts with public authorities.
Fixed debt recovery costs are a flat sum on top of the interest, set by the size of the debt.
| Size of the debt | Fixed sum you can claim |
|---|---|
| Up to £999.99 | £40 |
| £1,000 to £9,999.99 | £70 |
| £10,000 or more | £100 |
The fixed sum can be charged once per late payment, not once per reminder. If the recovery genuinely cost you more than the fixed amount, for instance because you instructed a solicitor, you can claim the difference on top.
What that adds up to
Take a £4,000 invoice paid 60 days late. Interest at 11.75 per cent for 60 days is roughly £77, and the fixed recovery sum at that debt size is £70. You are entitled to about £147 on an invoice you were always going to be paid for.
That is not life-changing on one invoice, and that is rather the point. The value is not the money, it is that an invoice which costs something to pay late gets paid earlier than one that does not. A client who pays everyone at 75 days moves you up the queue once your invoices start accruing.
Run the same figure across a year of a habitual late payer and it stops being trivial.
The sequence that actually works
Escalation works when it is calm, scheduled and obviously automatic. It fails when it reads as an emotional response to being ignored, because that invites negotiation about feelings instead of payment.
- Three days before the due date. A short note confirming the invoice is due, with the reference and the amount. This catches the genuinely common case where it was never entered into the system.
- The day after it is due. State that it is now overdue and ask for a payment date. Ask for a date rather than payment, because a date is a commitment you can refer back to.
- Seven days late. Note that statutory interest and recovery costs are now accruing. You are informing, not threatening, and the distinction is in the tone rather than the content.
- Twenty-one days late. Send a revised invoice with the interest and the fixed sum added as line items. Seeing it on the document changes the conversation.
- Thirty days late. Say what happens next and when, then do exactly that on the date you said.
Find the person who pays rather than the person who hired you, as early as step two. The accounts inbox has the power to release a payment and no opinion about the work, which makes it a much simpler conversation than the one with your contact, who may be embarrassed and will often simply stop replying.
Why people do not charge it
The reason is always the same and it is rarely stated out loud: the fear that charging interest costs you the client. Sometimes it does. It is worth being honest about which clients those are.
A client who would end a working relationship because you applied a statutory entitlement to a genuinely late payment is a client who intends to keep paying late. Losing them is the outcome, not the risk. A client who pays on time never encounters any of this and will never know your terms exist.
In practice the middle ground is where most of it lands. You can waive the charge as a gesture once the invoice is settled, which costs you nothing and makes the point more effectively than never raising it. What you cannot do is claim it retrospectively having never mentioned it, so it has to be on the invoice from the start.
This is general information about the UK position rather than legal advice, and the rules differ elsewhere. If a debt is large or disputed, it is worth proper advice rather than a template.
Common questions
Do I need a late payment clause in my contract?
Not for the statutory entitlement, which applies to business-to-business transactions by default. A clause is still useful because it makes the position visible before there is a problem, and because you can set your own rate. Set one carelessly, though, and you may end up with less than the statutory rate would have given you.
Can I charge interest to a consumer client?
The statutory regime described here covers business-to-business transactions. Work for private individuals sits under different rules, and anything you want to charge needs to be in the agreed terms. Say it before the work starts rather than after the invoice is late.
How long do I have to claim?
Longer than most people assume, and the right generally survives the invoice being paid. You do not lose the entitlement the moment the principal lands in your account. That said, raising it months later reads as opportunistic, so the practical window is while the conversation is still live.
What if they simply refuse to pay the interest?
You are entitled to it, but enforcing it for its own sake is rarely proportionate. Treat it as leverage on the principal rather than a separate battle. Getting the invoice paid in full and quietly dropping the interest is usually the better trade.
Does asking for payment up front avoid all this?
Partly, and it is the single most effective change most freelancers can make. A deposit before work starts and staged payments on longer projects limit how much you can be exposed to at any one time. It does not help with the final invoice, which is where late payment concentrates.
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