How to chase an unpaid invoice: the sequence that works
Most unpaid invoices are not disputes and not bad debt. They are invoices nobody chased properly. This is the sequence that gets them paid, with the timing and the wording.
Start before it is due
The single most effective message in any credit control sequence is the one almost nobody sends: a courtesy note seven days before the due date. It is friendly, it costs nothing, and it puts your invoice on their payment run before the run closes. Two lines is enough: the invoice number, the amount, the date it falls due, and an offer to help if anything is needed to release it.
The sequence
| When | What | Tone |
|---|---|---|
| 7 days before due | Courtesy check: is it on your run? | Helpful |
| Due date | Due today, with how to pay | Neutral |
| 3 days late | First reminder | Polite, clear |
| 7 days late | Second reminder with a statement of account showing the statutory interest accruing | Firm |
| 10 days late | A telephone call: "is there any reason this can't be paid this week?" | Direct |
| 14 days late | Escalate the person, not the tone: write to a finance manager or owner | Firm, courteous |
| 21 days late | Final notice before referral to a recovery firm, itemising the statutory sums | Formal |
| 28 days late | Hand over. The sender changes and the debtor knows it | Recovery |
Three rules that make it work
- Every message says how to pay. Bank details, the reference to quote, and the amount. Never make them look for it.
- Set a contact limit and keep to it. Frequent, persistent contact gets answered, but it must never become harassment. Ours, enforced by the system: in any seven days, no more than three emails, two call attempts a day, two texts and one posted letter, with no calls or texts outside working hours, and no calls for three working days after a conversation unless the customer asks.
- Mention statutory interest early and factually. Under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 it accrues from the day after the due date, whether you mention it or not. A statement that shows it climbing is the most persuasive document in the sequence.
When a customer replies
A promise to pay gets confirmed in writing within the hour, with the date and amount, and chasing pauses until then. A query gets acknowledged within a working hour and chasing on the queried sum stops until it is answered. A dispute is a dispute: pause, get the details in writing, and resolve it before anything formal. The undisputed part remains payable.