Your customer has been giving you the run around. You've heard every excuse for not paying under the sun. You've reached the end of your tether. It's time to get serious about collecting that late payment.
We believe that the best thing you can do at this stage is involve a third party to collect the debt for you. It immediately escalates the seriousness of the situation in the debtor's mind and makes them more likely to pay up quickly. Why not try our CreditXS debt collection service? We keep things professional and unemotional, letting you get on with what you do best - running your business. We can add late payment interest and our fees to the debt, so the service could end up costing you nothing.
However, if you are determined to spend your own time on chasing overdue payments, then here's some example late payment template letters written by the experts at My Credit Controllers that you can modify for your own use.
Use our CreditXS online debt collection service and add interest and our success fee to the debt to be collected.
Hand over your difficult to collect invoices to us to collect, and get on with what you do best.
Before sending this letter, you should check whether the company that owes you money is still in business. We've developed an easy to use web tool for doing just that - check whether the company is still in business here.
YOUR HEADED PAPER
[Customer Name]
[Customer Address]
[Date]
Dear Sirs,
Our Ref: [Customer Name]
It has come to our attention that your account is overdue for payment.
We are not aware of any disputes or reason for non-payment, therefore we would respectfully remind you that you have exceeded the trading terms for these outstanding amounts and we would be grateful to receive your remittance as soon as possible.
The details of the outstanding invoices are as follows:
| Invoice No | Invoice Date | Due Date | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00001 | 01/01/01 | 01/01/01 | £999.990 |
| 00002 | 01/01/01 | 01/01/01 | £999.99 |
We look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely
On behalf of [Your Company Name]
You have a statutory right to add interest and compensation to the debt you area owed by a commercial company. Use our late payment compensation calculator to calculate the amount. The second late payment letter template for a non-paying customer has optional text which allows you to add in the interest and compensation at this point.
YOUR HEADED PAPER
[Customer Name]
[Customer Address]
[Date]
Dear Sirs,
Our Ref: [Customer Name]
Second Request For Payment
Further to our previous correspondence dated [date of first letter], your account is still overdue for payment. We would respectfully remind you that you have exceeded the trading terms for these outstanding amounts and we would be grateful to receive your remittance by return.
The details of the outstanding invoices are as follows:
| Invoice No | Invoice Date | Due Date | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00001 | 01/01/01 | 01/01/01 | £999.990 |
| 00002 | 01/01/01 | 01/01/01 | £999.99 |
[OPTIONAL SECTION - ADD INTEREST] [We have a statutory right under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2013 to add interest and late payment compensation to the sum outstanding. This currently equates to £[calculate here] therefore, the amount to pay as at today currently stands at £[total of invoice amount and compensation].
We look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely
On behalf of [Your Company Name]
At this point you can introduce the option of passing the overdue amount to an external debt recovery service such as CreditXS from My Credit Controllers into your late payment letter.
YOUR HEADED PAPER
[Customer Name]
[Customer Address]
[Date]
Dear Sirs,
Our Ref: [Customer Name]
Final Request For Payment
Further to our previous correspondence dated [date of last letter], your account is still overdue for payment. We would respectfully remind you that you have exceeded the trading terms for these outstanding amounts and we would be grateful to receive your remittance before [DATE - set to 5 working days from date of letter] to avoid [CHOOSE ONE OF:] [this overdue amount being passed to commercial debt recovery service CreditXS for collection] / [further action].
The details of the outstanding invoices are as follows:
| Invoice No | Invoice Date | Due Date | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00001 | 01/01/01 | 01/01/01 | £999.990 |
| 00002 | 01/01/01 | 01/01/01 | £999.99 |
[OPTIONAL SECTION - ADD INTEREST] [We have a statutory right under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2013 to add interest and late payment compensation to the sum outstanding. This currently equates to £[calculate here] therefore, the amount to pay as at today currently stands at £[total of invoice amount and compensation.]
We look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely
On behalf of [Your Company Name]
It is not good practice to threaten legal action without the intention to follow through on your threats. In fact it can be construed as harassment.
Another option is to pass the debt to an external debt recovery service, such as Credit XS from My Credit Controllers. This escalates the seriousness of the debt in your customer's mind, frequently resulting in quick payment. Resolving the situation rapidly and without recourse to law is in everyone's interest. The fees from CreditXS can be added to the debt as part of the statutory compensation payment, so if the customer pays in full then the cost of the service is paid by the debtor.
However, if you want to press on without outside help, here's a template letter before action that gives the debtor one last chance to pay before you go legal.
YOUR HEADED PAPER
[Customer Name]
[Customer Address]
Without Prejudice
Outstanding Invoices – Company Name
Final Letter before Action – via email & tracked post
We are disappointed to see that despite numerous requests, payment for the overdue invoices as listed below has still not been received.
| Invoice No | Invoice Date | Due Date | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00001 | 01/01/01 | 01/01/01 | £999.990 |
| 00002 | 01/01/01 | 01/01/01 | £999.99 |
Under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2013 we are entitled to claim late payment interest & compensation charges. This currently equates to £[calculate here] therefore, the amount to pay as at today currently stands at £[total of invoice amount and compensation]
Take notice that if full payment of the £[TOTAL] is not received in our bank account by close of business on [DATE - set to five working days from letter date], we shall, without further notice, begin legal action to recover the debt, all court costs and statutory interest of 8% above the Bank of England base rate (fixed for the six month period within which date the invoice became overdue) pursuant to the late payment legislation to be borne by yourselves.
To prevent this from happening please pay in full now.
Please accept our apologies if payment has been made within the last 24 hours.
This is our final communication on the issue.
On behalf of [Your Company Name]
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