Skip to main content
For wholesalers & trade suppliers

Trade buyer not paying
your invoice?

The stock has shipped and the 30-day terms have quietly become 60, then 90. Recover an overdue trade account with a structured escalation — and protect the margins that late payment quietly eats.

Direct answer

If a trade buyer owes you an undisputed B2B sum up to £10,000 in England & Wales, you can recover it yourself: a polite reminder, then a Letter Before Action, then a County Court claim. RobinReturn prepares each step at a published price, takes no commission, and the buyer pays you directly.

TL;DR

  • For undisputed B2B sums up to £10,000.
  • Built for goods supplied on credit terms.
  • Pay per stage; no commission on what you recover.
  • Add statutory interest and compensation on top.
  • Calm tone — chase without ending the trading relationship.
The situation

Thin margins,
stretched terms.

For a supplier on credit terms, a buyer who pays late is borrowing from your working capital — and on wholesale margins, a few slow-payers can hurt more than a lost sale.

A graduated escalation puts a professional floor under your terms: a reminder when an account goes past due, a Letter Before Action if it keeps drifting, and a County Court claim as the backstop. Because the tone stays measured, you can hold a serial slow-payer to terms without torching a buyer you would rather keep.

RobinReturn is for an undisputed debt. If the buyer is withholding payment because they say goods were faulty, short-delivered or not as ordered, that is a dispute over the goods, not a simple late payment — it may need advice and falls outside this workflow. Your delivery notes, signed PODs and order records all help show the debt is undisputed.

Many overdue trade accounts are paid at the reminder or Letter Before Action stage, once a buyer sees a clear process behind the chase — though every case differs and nothing is guaranteed. Statutory interest (the reference rate plus 8%) and fixed compensation are recoverable from the buyer and are yours to keep.

Use the calculator below to see what you can add, or calculate late payment interest with the formula and reference rates in full.

MIN £100 · MAX £10,000
PICK A DUE DATE TO COUNT THE DAYS OVERDUE
%
DEFAULT 3.75% · RATE FIXED ON 30 JUNE 2026
What you can claim

Debt, interest & compensation

Invoice owed£5,000.00
Statutory interest (11.75% · 0 days)+ £0.00
Reference rate used3.75% + 8%
Daily interest£1.61
Fixed compensation (LPCDA s.5A)+ £70.00
Total you can claim£5,070.00

Interest accrues at the reference rate plus 8% (Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998), about £1.61 a day on this debt. Interest and compensation are recoverable from the debtor where the court agrees — RobinReturn takes no cut of either. Figures are illustrative and not legal advice.

Start free first reminder on us
FAQs

Your questions,
answered.

What if the buyer says the goods were faulty or short?

Then it is a dispute over the goods, not a straightforward late payment, and it may need legal advice — disputed debts fall outside this workflow. RobinReturn is built for undisputed invoices and is not a law firm.

Can I add interest to a trade debt?

Yes. On an undisputed commercial debt you can add statutory interest (the Bank of England reference rate plus 8%) and a fixed compensation sum, both recoverable from the buyer and kept by you.

I have several overdue invoices from one buyer — can I bundle them?

Each invoice is set up as its own case today; there is no bulk import yet. Several debts mean several runs through the workflow, each at the same published per-action price.

Will chasing cost me the account?

The escalation is calm and professional by default, and you approve each step — so you can hold a buyer to terms without sending anything heavier-handed than you intend.

Next steps

The route,
step by step.

Letter before action

The formal letter that sets a payment deadline before any claim — what it should say, and when to send it.

The N1 claim form

What goes on the County Court claim form and the Particulars of Claim for an unpaid invoice.

Start the chase
for free.

Your first reminder sequence is on us. Escalate only if you need to. RobinReturn is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.

For undisputed invoices up to £10,000 owed by another business in England or Wales.

New to RobinReturn? See how RobinReturn works, why businesses choose it, who is behind it and what has changed recently.