Getting paid check for trades firms: ten yes-or-no questions from quote to court judgment

This check is for the owner or office manager of a small trades or building firm who wants to know where money gets stuck. The ten questions follow one job in order: the price of extras, the payment terms, the invoice, the chasing messages, the letter before a court claim and what to do with a judgment. Answer from memory. Each answer shows the rule and the guide that works it through. It covers England and Wales, and none of the questions repeats our general paperwork check.

There are ten questions and they take about five minutes. Answer from memory. "Not sure" counts as a gap, because a rule nobody in the office can recall is a rule nobody is checking.

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Getting paid check for trades firms: ten yes-or-no questions from quote to court judgment

1. When a customer asks for extra work part-way through a job, do you give the price in writing and wait for a yes before you start it?ChooseYesNoNot sure
2. Do your terms for business customers set an interest rate of your own for late payment, such as 2% a month?ChooseYesNoNot sure
3. Does every invoice you send show the date payment is due, not only a line such as "payment terms 14 days"?ChooseYesNoNot sure
4. Do you send a reminder on the day an invoice falls due, and a firmer one 7 days later, for every customer?ChooseYesNoNot sure
5. Before you chase hard, do you ask the customer straight out whether anything is wrong with the work?ChooseYesNoNot sure
6. When a business customer pays one invoice late, do you add the fixed recovery fee more than once, for example with each reminder?ChooseYesNoNot sure
7. Would you send a householder's final letter before court by email or WhatsApp alone, with no forms attached?ChooseYesNoNot sure
8. Once you have a county court judgment, do you wait for the court to collect the money for you?ChooseYesNoNot sure
9. When a judgment arrives, do you tell the customer that paying in full within one month takes it off the public register?ChooseYesNoNot sure
10. Do you keep the quote, the customer's acceptance, the agreed changes and the photos for six years after payment fell due?ChooseYesNoNot sure

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What each question checks

1. When a customer asks for extra work part-way through a job, do you give the price in writing and wait for a yes before you start it? The answer that is in order is "yes". Schedule 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 lists a term that lets the trader decide the price after the customer is bound. Give the price of each extra in writing, where a text or email is enough, and do not start it until the customer agrees. Source: Consumer Rights Act 2015, Schedule 2 Part 1. The working is in Terms and conditions template for tradespeople.

2. Do your terms for business customers set an interest rate of your own for late payment, such as 2% a month? The answer that is in order is "no". GOV.UK says you cannot claim statutory interest if the contract sets a different rate. Statutory interest is 8% plus the Bank of England base rate, with a fixed sum of £40, £70 or £100, so a home-made rate can leave you with less. Source: GOV.UK, Late commercial payments: charging interest and debt recovery. The working is in Terms and conditions template for tradespeople.

3. Does every invoice you send show the date payment is due, not only a line such as "payment terms 14 days"? The answer that is in order is "yes". GOV.UK's list of what an invoice must include has the date of the work and the date of the invoice. Fourteen days is common in the trades. Whatever terms you choose, print the due date itself so nobody has to work it out. Source: GOV.UK, Invoicing and taking payment from customers. The working is in Free invoice template for electricians and builders (UK), with CIS and reverse charge.

4. Do you send a reminder on the day an invoice falls due, and a firmer one 7 days later, for every customer? The answer that is in order is "yes". A fixed schedule of three messages, on the due date, at 7 days late and at 14 days late, stops chasing becoming personal or forgotten. Chasing only when you remember puts the first reminder at about 21 days. Source: Our chasing schedule, checked against GOV.UK's late payment pages. The working is in How to chase an unpaid invoice as a builder.

5. Before you chase hard, do you ask the customer straight out whether anything is wrong with the work? The answer that is in order is "yes". A court looks at whether you acted reasonably, and the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims does not cover a debt that falls under another protocol, such as Construction and Engineering. A complaint about the work has to be settled before the debt route applies. Source: Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims. The working is in Customer won't pay for work done? What a UK tradesperson can do, step by step.

6. When a business customer pays one invoice late, do you add the fixed recovery fee more than once, for example with each reminder? The answer that is in order is "no". The fixed sum is £40 on a debt under £1,000, £70 from £1,000 to £9,999.99 and £100 from £10,000. GOV.UK says you can only charge the business once for each payment, however many reminders you send. Source: GOV.UK, Late commercial payments: charging interest and debt recovery. The working is in What late payment interest can a builder actually claim? Worked sums.

7. Would you send a householder's final letter before court by email or WhatsApp alone, with no forms attached? The answer that is in order is "no". For a householder or sole trader the protocol says the letter of claim should go by post with the information sheet, the reply form and the financial statement form. You cannot start a claim until 30 days after the date on the letter. Source: Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims, paragraphs 3.1 to 3.4. The working is in Letter before action template for an unpaid trade invoice, and the 30-day wait that follows.

8. Once you have a county court judgment, do you wait for the court to collect the money for you? The answer that is in order is "no". The court service's guide says the court will not enforce a judgment unless you ask it to. Each method has its own fee, from £82 to £139 in the fees leaflet updated on 13 July 2026, and a county court warrant of control is £96. Source: HM Courts and Tribunals Service, leaflets EX321 and EX50. The working is in What happens if a customer ignores a county court judgment? What a trades firm can do next, with the fees.

9. When a judgment arrives, do you tell the customer that paying in full within one month takes it off the public register? The answer that is in order is "yes". A county court judgment stays on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines for 6 years. GOV.UK says a debtor who pays the full amount within one month can have it removed, which costs you nothing to point out. Source: GOV.UK, County court judgments for debt. The working is in What happens if a customer ignores a county court judgment? What a trades firm can do next, with the fees.

10. Do you keep the quote, the customer's acceptance, the agreed changes and the photos for six years after payment fell due? The answer that is in order is "yes". Section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980 gives six years from the date the cause of action arose to bring a claim on a simple contract. That is how long you can sue for an unpaid invoice, and how long you need the proof. Source: Limitation Act 1980, section 5. The working is in How long do I have to keep invoices and job records as a tradesperson? Five years for tax, six for VAT, one job worked through.

How to use the result

The list under your score is a to-do list. Each line names the rule, where it comes from and the page that shows how to deal with it. Put a name and a date against each one. A gap that has an owner and a date is being handled; a gap that everyone knows about and nobody owns is how firms end up explaining themselves later.

Do the check again each quarter, and again whenever a rule in this sector changes. Give it to a second person in the office without showing them your answers. Where the two of you disagree, the procedure is not written down clearly enough, and that is worth knowing whichever of you is right.

A good score is not a certificate. The questions cover the points our guides cover, which are the ones that come up most often in a small firm; they are not every duty a firm has. This page is general information, not legal advice.

Overlyft sets up AI assistants for trades and building firms: they prepare drafts for a person to approve. They do not make a firm compliant, and none of the ten answers depends on them.