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How to chase an unpaid invoice as a builder: three letters and when to send them
Three copy-and-paste messages for an unpaid trade invoice, at due date, 7 days and 14 days, with different wording for homeowners and business customers.
Chasing an unpaid invoice is awkward when you like the customer, and tiring when you do not. The way round both is a fixed schedule: the same three messages, at the same times, for every late invoice, so it never becomes personal and never gets forgotten.
Free tool
Unpaid invoice chasing letter maker for trades
Fill in the invoice details and pick the stage. The final letters give the customer 7 days from today, and only the business version mentions statutory interest and the fixed fee.
- Check the bank before you send anything: make sure the invoice really is unpaid.
- If you are not sure whether the customer is a business or a household, treat them as a household and use the homeowner letter.
- If the customer has complained about the work, settle that first.
- Check the invoice shows the due date and your payment terms.
The rule this rests on: Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, which applies to business customers only; GOV.UK late commercial payments guidance. A draft to check and adapt, not legal advice.
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The schedule
| When | What | Tone |
|---|---|---|
| Due date | A friendly reminder | Assume they forgot |
| 7 days late | A firmer note | Plain, with the amount and the date |
| 14 days late | A final letter | Formal, with what happens next |
Send each on the day. If you do it only when you remember, you will do the first one at 21 days.
Letter 1: due date (any customer)
Hi [name], a quick reminder that invoice [number] for £[amount] is due today. Bank details are on the invoice. If it has already gone through, thank you and please ignore this. If anything is wrong with it, tell me today and I will sort it.
Letter 2: 7 days late (any customer)
Hi [name], invoice [number] for £[amount] was due on [date] and has not reached us. Could you let me know when we can expect payment? If there is a problem with the work or the invoice, please say so and we will deal with it straight away.
Letter 3: 14 days late, homeowner
Dear [name], invoice [number] for £[amount], due on [date], remains unpaid. Please pay in full by [date, 7 days ahead]. If we do not hear from you by then, we will have to consider recovering the debt through the courts, which could add costs. I would much rather agree a payment plan; please call me.
For a private customer, say nothing about the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. It does not apply to them, and claiming it would be wrong. For a household, our advice is simply: stay calm, keep every message, and offer a plan.
Letter 3: 14 days late, business customer
Dear [name], invoice [number] for £[amount], due on [date], is now 14 days overdue. Under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 we are entitled to statutory interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate, plus a fixed recovery fee of £[40, 70 or 100 by the size of the debt]. Interest is accruing at £[daily amount] a day. Please pay £[amount] by [date]. If payment is not received by then, we will pursue the debt.
The fixed fees GOV.UK gives are £40 under £1,000, £70 from £1,000 to £9,999.99 and £100 from £10,000 upwards, and "you can only charge the business once for each payment". Our guide on what late payment interest a builder can claim works the daily figure out for four sizes of invoice.
AI staff and workflows for trades and building firms. Starting with enquiry to quote.See what we would set upWhat to check before sending letter 3
- Is the customer a business or a household? If you are not sure, treat them as a household.
- Does the invoice show the due date and your payment terms? If it does not, you are on weaker ground, and our quote template shows where to put them.
- Is there a dispute about the work? If so, settle that first.
- Is it genuinely late? Check the bank before you send it.
This is a template, not legal advice. For a large or contested debt, speak to a solicitor or your trade body.
Why we set it up as a schedule
We built this sequence into the Credit Controller job in our trades workflow pack because owners and part-time bookkeepers do not skip the chasing out of laziness. They skip it because it falls on the day the work is heaviest. The Credit Controller raises the invoice, sends letters 1 and 2 on the day, and holds letter 3 for your approval, since a firm letter or a claim for interest is your decision. Every Monday it tells you who owes what and how late.
Of the three letters, the first is the one that matters. Most late invoices are paid after a polite nudge on the due date, and that is also the one that is easiest to automate.
Short answers from this page
How should a builder chase an unpaid invoice?
In writing, on a schedule: a reminder the day after the due date, a firmer letter a week later that states the invoice number, the amount and the date it was due, and a final letter before claim with a deadline. For a business customer, state the statutory interest and fixed fee you are entitled to add. Keep each letter dated; the court will ask for them.
Where this comes from: The Credit Controller job description in our trades workflow pack (2026-10-01); GOV.UK late commercial payments pages, read 2026-10-01.
AEO Lookup editorial team
We write practical guides for people who run small UK firms, and we check every fact against its source on the date shown. Read how we review, or tell us if something has changed.
