Late Payments: Chasing Money Politely (and the Law on Your Side)

Every vendor has one: the invoice that's been "with accounts" since the summer. Chasing it feels awkward, so it waits. The waiting quietly costs you money you already earned. Time to fix that. Here's how to chase politely, escalate firmly when needed, then lean on a law most small traders don't realise is entirely on their side.

The law you probably didn't know you had

When a business pays another business late, the unpaid supplier can charge statutory interest: 8% plus the Bank of England base rate, under the late commercial payment rules. You can also claim fixed debt recovery costs on top. And if no payment terms were ever agreed, the law sets them for you: payment is late 30 days after your invoice lands or the work is done, whichever comes later.

Notice who that covers: the corporate Christmas party, the venue that books you directly, the festival organiser. Business customers. A couple booking their wedding is a consumer. On private work, deposits and balance-before-the-day terms do the protecting instead. Different tools for different clients, same principle underneath. You're not a bank, so stop lending interest-free.

The chase, in three polite steps

Most late payments aren't malice. They're a missed email. A holiday. An invoice with no purchase order number, sat in a queue. The sequence below collects from the honest majority without burning any bridges, then deals with the rest.

• Day 1 overdue, the nudge: short and warm. "Just flagging that invoice 214 was due yesterday, could you check it's in the run? Copy attached in case it went astray." Half of all late payments die right here.
• Day 14, the firm reminder: still friendly, now specific. Restate the amount and the original due date. Ask for a payment date by return. Attach the invoice again. Ask if anything is blocking it, because sometimes something genuinely is.
• Day 30, the statutory letter: polite, formal, and quoting the rules above: from today, statutory interest at 8% plus base accrues, plus recovery costs. No threats, just arithmetic. It's remarkable how fast "with accounts" resolves once being late has a price on it.

Better than chasing is not needing to

The best chase sequence is the one your terms make unnecessary. Deposits on booking, as covered in our deposit policies guide. Balances due before the event for private clients, not after. For corporate work, a purchase order number requested at booking, because an invoice without one enters most finance systems through the slow door. And invoice the same day as the gig, every time. An invoice sent three weeks late signals that another few weeks won't matter much either.

One more habit worth stealing: a monthly fifteen-minute sweep of everything owed, as part of the admin hour. Late payments thrive on nobody noticing. A vendor who notices within days collects within weeks.

When it still doesn't come

Past sixty days with no response, you're into formal territory: a letter before action, then the small claims process, which for typical vendor invoices is designed to work without a solicitor. Most disputes never get that far, because the letter alone shows you're serious. Weigh the relationship honestly at this point. A client who needs court threats to pay for a hog roast was never a client worth keeping, and the diary space they occupied has a market value you're now free to sell to someone better.

Nudge at one day, remind at fourteen, quote the law at thirty. Deposits up front, invoices out same-day, terms in the footer. That's the whole system, and none of it requires being anything other than polite. The money you earned this summer belongs in your account, not propping up someone else's cash flow. Go and get it.