There is no official form to fill in. Below is an illustrative sample letter for an unpaid business invoice, what each part of it has to do, and how long to give the debtor.
A letter before action is the formal final demand you send before issuing a county court claim. For an unpaid business invoice it should name the parties, state the amount and how it is made up, set out the interest claimed, give a response deadline (normally 14 days), explain how to pay and say what happens next. A sample is below.
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Illustrative sample only, for an unpaid invoice owed by a limited company in England and Wales. Replace every [bracketed] field with your own details and delete this note before you send it. If the debtor is a sole trader (an individual in business), give 30 days and enclose the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims information sheet, reply form and financial statement. It is for business-to-business debts only, not debts owed by consumers. RobinReturn is software, not a law firm, and this is not legal advice.
[Your Company Ltd] [Registered office address] Company number [00000000]
[Date]
By email to [accounts@debtor.co.uk] and by post [Debtor Ltd] [Registered office address] Company number [00000000]
Our reference: [invoice number]
Dear [name],
Letter before action: unpaid invoice [number] for £[amount]
We write about our invoice [number] dated [date] for [description of the goods or services], supplied under [your purchase order / our agreement] dated [date]. Payment was due on [due date]. We sent reminders on [dates], and the invoice remains unpaid.
The sum outstanding is made up as follows: Invoice [number]: £[invoice total] Less payments received: £[amount] Principal outstanding: £[amount]
We also claim statutory interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 at 8% a year above the Bank of England reference rate, from [the day after the due date] until payment. At the date of this letter the interest comes to £[interest to date], and it continues to run at £[daily amount] a day. We also claim fixed compensation of £[40 / 70 / 100] under section 5A of the Act. [If your contract sets its own late-payment interest, check whether it replaces the statutory rate before you rely on it, and name the clause.]
Please pay £[total now due] by [date, at least 14 days after the date of this letter], by bank transfer to account name [account name], sort code [00-00-00], account number [00000000], quoting reference [invoice number].
If you dispute any part of this sum, please tell us in writing by the same date which part you dispute and why, and send us copies of any documents you rely on. If you cannot pay in full, please contact us by that date with a proposal to pay by instalments.
If we receive neither payment nor a response by [date], we may issue a claim against you in the County Court without further notice. The claim may include the principal, statutory interest, the fixed compensation and the court fee. We refer you to the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols: if a claim is issued, the court may take into account whether the parties followed it.
Please send any reply to [name] at [email address] or [postal address].
Yours sincerely, [Name] [Position], for and on behalf of [Your Company Ltd] [Telephone]
Enclosures: copy invoice [number]; statement of account; [purchase order / contract]; [proof of delivery or completion]; copies of our reminders dated [dates].
Each part of the sample above, annotated. Whatever wording you use, the letter that goes out has to describe your debt, with your figures.
Full legal names and addresses on both sides: your business as the creditor, and the debtor named the way a court would name them. A trading name on its own is not enough — check the registered name and company number at Companies House, and name the individual where the debtor is a sole trader.
From: [Your Company Ltd], [registered office]. To: [Debtor Ltd] (company number [00000000]), [registered office].
The invoice number and date, the contract or purchase order behind it, the date payment fell due, and the arithmetic from the invoice total to the sum now claimed. The protocol expects the debtor to be able to understand the claim and check it; a single total with no breakdown does not achieve that.
Invoice [number] dated [date] for [the supply], due [date]. Principal outstanding £[amount], after payments received of £[amount].
For a business-to-business debt you can normally claim statutory interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998: 8% a year above the Bank of England reference rate, as simple interest from the day after payment fell due, together with the fixed compensation sum under s.5A of £40, £70 or £100 by size of debt. Give the basis and the rate you are applying, and say that interest continues to run — not a figure you have not calculated from the actual dates.
Statutory interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 at 8% a year above the Bank of England reference rate from [the day after the due date], continuing until payment, plus fixed compensation of £[40 / 70 / 100] under s.5A.
A specific date, not “by return” or “immediately”. Normally 14 days for a company debtor; the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims gives a sole trader or an individual 30 days. Date the letter, and diarise the deadline you set.
Please pay in full by [date], being 14 days from the date of this letter.
Payment details and a reference, so there is no excuse for delay and no doubt about what a payment relates to. It is also the place to invite the debtor to propose instalments or to explain a genuine dispute, and to say where a reply should be sent.
Payment by bank transfer to [account name], sort code [00-00-00], account [00000000], quoting reference [invoice number].
A factual statement of the step you may take next — usually a claim in the County Court — and that interest, and where applicable court fees, may be added. Stating an intention is fine; overstating it is not, and a letter that threatens something you will not do weakens your position if the matter reaches a judge.
If payment is not received by [date], and you do not respond, we may issue a claim in the County Court without further notice to you.
Copies of the documents you rely on: the invoice, a statement of account, the contract or purchase order, evidence of delivery or completion, and the earlier reminders. Where the debtor is a sole trader or an individual, the protocol's information sheet, reply form and financial statement go with the letter as well.
Enclosed: copy invoice [number], statement of account, purchase order [number], proof of delivery dated [date], and copies of our reminders of [dates].
The right window depends on who owes you, not on how long the invoice has been overdue. Read the Pre-Action Protocol guide.
| Debtor | Window | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Limited company or LLP | 14 days (normal) | Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols: a reasonable period, normally 14 days in a straightforward case. No prescribed enclosures beyond the documents you rely on. |
| Sole trader or individual | 30 days | Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims: 30 days to reply, with the protocol's information sheet, reply form and financial statement enclosed. |
| A “7-day” letter | Usually too short | Fine as a final reminder, but as the letter before action it falls short of the period the court expects. Issuing a claim early can lead the court to pause the claim or to reflect it in costs. |
When the debtor is a person in business rather than a company — a sole trader trading in their own name — the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims applies, and the sample above needs three changes. The sample and the Late Payment Act are for business-to-business debts only, not debts owed by consumers.
If the reply form says the debtor is getting debt advice, the protocol expects you to allow reasonable time for it before you issue a claim.
A letter before action is usually read twice: once by the debtor, and once by a judge deciding whether you behaved reasonably before issuing a claim. Missing content is what costs you on the second reading.
A template, this one included, gives you a layout. The errors that matter are in the detail: an interest figure worked out from the wrong date or rate, a sole-trader debtor sent a company-style letter without the protocol reply form, or a debtor named by its trading name instead of the legal entity that owes you. Those are the details a debtor's adviser looks at first.
RobinReturn is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. It is not a legal representative under CPR 2.3(1). The sample on this page is illustrative, for a documented B2B invoice in England and Wales; if your debt is disputed, consumer-facing, high-value or legally complex, take advice from a solicitor.
The sample above is free to copy and send. If you would rather not work out the interest and the response date by hand, RobinReturn prepares a solicitor-drafted letter before action from your case for £9.50, charged once per case, plus a £25 review fee plus VAT, paid to the reviewing solicitor, not to RobinReturn: the invoice figures, the statutory interest and compensation, and the correct response window, with an audit trail of what was sent and when.
Work out the statutory interest, compare what an LBA costs, see how the letter fits a small claim, compare a letter before claim or read the Pre-Action Protocol guide. Wondering about the name? See letter before claim vs letter before action, or what to send before a small claim.
No. Neither the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols nor the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims prescribes a form of words for a debt owed by a company. They set out what the debtor has to be told and how long they get to respond. For a debtor who is a sole trader or an individual, the protocol does prescribe the information sheet, reply form and financial statement that go with the letter.
For a company debtor the rules do not prescribe a method. Email to an address the debtor uses for its accounts is common, and many creditors also post a copy to the registered office so there is a record of delivery. For a sole trader or an individual, the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims expects the letter to be posted; you can email a copy as well.
No. A business can write and send its own letter before action. What matters is that the letter gives the debtor the information the court expects and a reasonable time to respond.
Normally 14 days for a limited company or LLP, which is what the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct treats as a reasonable period in a straightforward case. If the debtor is a sole trader or an individual, the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims gives them 30 days to reply.
Once the response date has passed with no payment and no reply, you can issue a claim in the County Court, for example online through Money Claim Online. Keep a copy of the letter and proof of sending: the court may ask whether you followed the pre-action rules.
For a business-to-business debt you can normally claim statutory interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 at 8% a year above the Bank of England reference rate, plus fixed compensation of £40, £70 or £100 depending on the size of the debt. If your contract sets its own late-payment interest and it is a substantial remedy, the contract rate replaces the statutory one. State the basis and the rate, and the figure to date if you have worked it out from the real dates.
Yes. "Letter before action", "letter before claim" and the protocol's own term, "Letter of Claim", all describe the same formal final demand sent before a claim is issued.
RobinReturn populates a solicitor-drafted letter before action from your case — the invoice figures, the statutory basis and the right response window — and tracks the deadline for you.
For undisputed invoices up to £10,000 owed by another business in England or Wales.