Invoice
£4,800
For freelancers & businesses · England & Wales · Small claims under £10,000
Get paid what you’re owed.
Plus statutory interest and compensation.
Client gone quiet on your invoice? Under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 you can charge 8% above base on B2B debts, plus £40–£100 fixed compensation. CourtPilot drafts the letter, the particulars and walks you through MCOL.
We help you prepare the documents and file them yourself — you’re always the claimant on the record. Not a law firm, no legal advice given.
✓ Late Payment Act 1998 — 8% above base
✓ £40–£100 fixed compensation
✓ B2B & freelance invoices supported
£1k–£10k typical invoice ✓
8%
Statutory interest above Bank of England base on overdue B2B invoices — under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.
£40–£100
Fixed compensation per invoice depending on size — £40 up to £999.99, £70 up to £9,999.99, £100 above.
30 days
Default payment period under the Late Payment regs if no longer term was agreed in the contract.
Can you take this to court?
Five checks.
If most are yes, you’ve got a claim.
Unpaid-invoice claims are some of the cleanest small-claims cases — the debt is documented, the deadline is documented, and the statute hands you interest and compensation on a plate.
1
You provided goods or services and issued an invoice that remains unpaid.
2
The payment deadline has passed and the client isn’t responding to chasers.
3
You have a copy of the invoice and some evidence of the agreement (PO, email, contract).
4
The amount owed is under £10,000.
5
You’ve sent at least one reminder about the outstanding payment.
· Eligibility self-check
✓You provided goods or services and issued an invoice that remains unpaid.
✓The payment deadline has passed and the client isn’t responding to chasers.
✓You have a copy of the invoice and some evidence of the agreement (PO, email, contract).
✓The amount owed is under £10,000.
What CourtPilot drafts for you
Late Payment Act,
baked in.
Generic invoice chasers don’t cite the statute. CourtPilot drafts to the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 — names the interest rate, the fixed compensation and the 30-day deadline.
1
Letter Before Action — Names the invoice, the sum, the statutory interest under the Late Payment Act and the 30-day deadline required by the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims.
2
Interest & compensation schedule — Itemised calculation of 8%-over-base interest plus the £40–£100 fixed compensation — the figure you put in the particulars.
3
Particulars of Claim — Pleaded to CPR Part 16, citing the Late Payment Act and any express terms of your contract or purchase order.
4
Witness statement & court bundle — Your account with the contract, the invoice, the chasers and the bank statements exhibited — indexed and paginated.
9:415G
Re: Invoice 2026-041 · £4,800 outstanding
Dear Ms Doyle,
I write before issuing a claim in the County Court Money Claims Centre. Invoice 2026-041 for £4,800 + VAT covering design services from 1 February to 31 March 2026 fell due on 14 April 2026 and remains unpaid.
Under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, statutory interest at 8% above base and fixed compensation of £70 are now claimed in addition to the principal sum…
Interest
£64/mo
Fixed comp.
£70
Deadline
30 days
Download Word doc →
The cost of being heard
Solicitors are expensive per invoice.
CourtPilot is one fee.
A solicitor charging hourly on a £3,000 invoice eats the recovery — and on the small-claims track those fees aren’t recoverable. CourtPilot is one flat price covering letter, particulars and bundle.
What a solicitor charges
£1,000–£2,500
Plus their hourly rate after that
Typical solicitor fee for a small-claims unpaid-invoice case — per invoice. Not recoverable on the small-claims track.
What CourtPilot charges
£97
One-off · the lot
LBA, interest schedule, particulars, witness statement, MCOL walkthrough, court bundle. One-off — credited against the £9.97 if you sent the letter first.
What changes
Nothing
You’re still the claimant
Same court, same forms, same procedure. You sign and file. We draft, walk you through MCOL, and produce the bundle.
Pricing, in one breath
£9.97 today. £97 if it goes the distance.
Send the letter first. Most disputes settle once a proper LBA lands. If yours doesn’t, the £9.97 comes off the toolkit — same total either way.
01 · Today
£9.97
Letter Before Action
Drafted from your invoice and contract, names the sum, the statutory interest and the 30-day deadline. A surprising proportion of clients pay once a proper LBA citing the Late Payment Act lands.
02 · If they don’t settle
£97
£87.03
Upgrade to the full toolkit
MCOL walkthrough, particulars, interest schedule, witness statement, court bundle, hearing script. £9.97 credited automatically.
03 · Included
Free
Late Payment calculator
Built in. Drop in the invoice date and amount — we compute the running 8%-over-base interest and the fixed compensation tier for the LBA.
The questions people ask
The bits people always ask.
Can I charge interest on an unpaid invoice?+
Yes. Under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 you can charge 8% statutory interest above the Bank of England base rate on B2B invoices. You can also claim fixed compensation of £40–£100 depending on the invoice size. Even if it isn’t in your terms, the statute kicks in by default.
What if there is no written contract?+
You can still claim. If the client accepted the work and you have evidence of the agreement — emails, messages, purchase orders, or just the fact they used your services — that is sufficient. The invoice itself is evidence of the debt.
What about the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Act?+
It gives businesses the right to charge statutory interest at 8% above base on late B2B payments. It also entitles you to fixed compensation: £40 for debts up to £999.99, £70 for debts up to £9,999.99, and £100 for debts of £10,000 or more — per invoice.
Should I send a Letter Before Action first?+
Yes. The court expects you to follow the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims, which requires a formal LBA giving the debtor 30 days to pay. CourtPilot generates this for you. A non-trivial share of invoices get paid at this stage — naming the Act helps.
Can I claim from a client that’s gone into administration?+
If the company is in administration or liquidation, you can’t issue a court claim without permission. You register as a creditor instead. Check the company status on Companies House before you start.
Two minutes · No card
Find out what your unpaid invoice is really worth.
Free case check tells you the interest and compensation you’re owed on top of the principal, and the exact next step. No card required.