Arrears
£3,750
For landlords · England & Wales · Small claims under £10,000
Recover rent arrears.
Without the £400/hr solicitor.
A Letter Before Action drafted to the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims. Money Claim Online walkthrough. Section 8 ground 8 notice if you also want possession. Built for the County Court of England & Wales.
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.
✓ Drafted to the Pre-Action Protocol
✓ S.69 interest at 8% pa recoverable
✓ Ground 8: mandatory at 3+ months (post-RRA 2025)
£3,400 average claim ✓
£3,400
Average rent-arrears claim across CourtPilot assessments (n=39, since Dec 2025). Well inside the small-claims track.
3 months
The threshold for mandatory Ground 8 possession under Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988, as raised by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 from 1 May 2026.
8%
Statutory interest available under County Courts Act 1984 s.69 — quietly tops up your claim.
The two-track problem
Money or possession.
Sometimes both.
Most landlords don’t realise these are separate procedures. The court won’t order possession in a money claim, and possession proceedings don’t automatically recover the arrears. We help you decide — and run both in parallel if you need to.
Track A
Just the money
Money Claim Online
Pre-Action Protocol letter → MCOL claim → judgment → enforcement. The standard small-claims debt route. Tenant may still be in the property at the end.
Track B
Money + possession
Section 8 ground 8
Section 8 notice → possession proceedings → money judgment + possession order. Mandatory ground at 3+ months arrears (post-RRA 2025). Faster, but stricter rules on the notice.
Track C
Both, in parallel
If you want it all
Many landlords run both. Section 8 for vacant possession, money claim for the arrears + s.69 interest + costs. The paperwork doubles, but the strategy is sound.
What CourtPilot drafts for you
Tuned to your tenancy.
Not a template.
Generic LBA templates fall over the moment the tenant has paid something, has filed a counterclaim, or the AST has non-standard clauses. CourtPilot drafts from your facts — payment history, tenancy clauses, deposit status.
1
Letter Before Action — names the tenancy, the unpaid months, the s.69 interest, the 30-day deadline required by the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims.
2
Schedule of arrears — month-by-month statement with running balance, ready to attach to the LBA and the particulars.
3
Particulars of Claim — pleaded to CPR Part 16, referencing the AST clauses and the rent payable.
4
Section 8 notice — if you want possession too. Free to check first with our notice validator.
9:415G
Re: Unpaid rent — 14 Park Crescent
Dear Mr Patel,
I write before issuing a claim in the County Court Money Claims Centre. Under the assured shorthold tenancy dated 1 September 2025, rent of £1,250 per month is payable on the 1st. Three months remain unpaid (Jan–Mar 2026), totalling £3,750.00.
In accordance with the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims, this letter affords you 30 days to settle…
Months
3
Interest 8%
£28/mo
Deadline
14 Jun
Download Word doc →
Before you pay anything
Section 8 notice?
Check it first. Free.
A defective Section 8 notice gets the possession claim struck out — and you have to start the clock again. Our checker reads your draft against the Schedule 2 grounds and the prescribed form. Free, always.
· The notice validator
Twelve checks against Form 3A and Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988 (post-RRA 2025).
Right ground stated? Right notice period for the right ground? Right names, right address, right date format? We check all of it before you serve it — and tell you the exact fix if it’s wrong.
✓Ground 8 (≥ 3 months arrears)
✓Ground 10 (any arrears)
✓Ground 11 (persistent delay)
✓Correct notice period for the grounds cited
✓Prescribed Form 3A used
!Tenant’s full name matches AST
Pricing, in one breath
£9.97 today. £97 if it goes the distance.
Send the letter first. Most tenants in arrears settle when 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 tenancy, names the unpaid months, the s.69 interest, the 30-day deadline under the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims. About 1 in 3 rent-arrears disputes settle on a letter alone — most users send within 10 minutes.
02 · If they don’t pay
£97
£87.03
Upgrade to the toolkit
MCOL walkthrough, particulars, schedule of arrears, witness statement, court bundle, hearing script. £9.97 credited automatically.
03 · If you also want possession
Free
Section 8 notice check
Built into every plan. Use it on its own to check a notice you’ve drafted yourself — or with the toolkit to generate one from scratch.
Worked example
£3,750 recovered. No eviction.
Three months arrears. You’ve been polite for too long. The CourtPilot letter cites the AST clauses, s.69 interest, and a 30-day deadline. The tenant’s parents pay the lot inside a week. Property still let. No possession proceedings needed.
£3,750
Arrears recovered without proceedings
7 days
From letter sent to bank transfer
£9.97
Total CourtPilot cost
Illustrative example based on the kind of outcome a properly drafted Letter Before Action can have on a strong rent-arrears case. Not a specific customer.
Landlord-specific questions
The bits landlords always ask.
Can I just deduct the arrears from the deposit instead?+
You can deduct unpaid rent from a tenancy deposit at the end of the tenancy — but only by going through the deposit scheme’s ADR (TDS, DPS, or MyDeposits). The deposit is normally one month’s rent at most, so it rarely covers more than that. For larger arrears, a money claim runs in parallel.
Section 8 or Section 21?+
Section 8 is fault-based — Ground 8 is mandatory at 3+ months arrears (raised from 2 by the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, in force from 1 May 2026). Section 21 “no fault” possession was abolished for new tenancies on that same date; pre-existing Section 21 notices remain valid for a transitional window, but for arrears specifically Section 8 Ground 8 is the cleaner route. Many landlords run both Section 8 (for vacant possession) and a money claim (for the arrears + s.69 interest + costs) in parallel.
What if they have a counterclaim for disrepair?+
A counterclaim for disrepair under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 or s.11 Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 is the most common defence in rent-arrears claims. The toolkit drafts the reply addressing typical disrepair grounds — but if there are genuine disrepair issues, it’s worth dealing with those first before pursuing the arrears. A live disrepair claim can offset the rent owed.
Are my legal costs recoverable?+
In the small-claims track (under £10,000) the general rule is that legal costs are not recoverable, only fixed costs (typically £55–£185 on the claim form) and court fees. That’s why a solicitor is rarely cost-effective for a small-claims rent arrears claim — and why CourtPilot exists.
I’m a letting agent acting for the landlord — can I use this?+
Yes, as long as you’re instructed by the landlord and you’re comfortable putting the landlord’s name on the claim form. CourtPilot generates the documents — you (or your client) sign and serve them. We don’t draft court documents in your name as the legal claimant.
The tenant has left and stopped paying. What now?+
You’ve effectively got an abandoned tenancy. Possession is no longer the issue — the money is. Use the LBA + MCOL track (Track A above). Sending the letter to their last known address is fine; we’ll cover that in the walkthrough. If they’ve genuinely vanished and the debt is over £750, a statutory demand is also an option.
Do you cover housing-association tenants or social housing?+
We’re built for private landlords. Most existing ASTs automatically converted to assured periodic tenancies on 1 May 2026 under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, so your tenancy is now an assured tenancy regardless of what the original paperwork said. Social housing arrears claims follow the same money-claim route, but the possession procedure is different (regulated tenancy, different grounds). The LBA + MCOL flow will still work; the Section 8 tools won’t apply directly.
Two minutes · No card
Find out the cleanest route for your arrears.
Free case check tells you which track fits — money only, possession only, or both — and the exact next step. No card required.
Every month the arrears go unpursued, recovery odds drop and the s.69 interest you can claim is the only thing growing.