A client won't pay my recruitment placement fee. What can I do?
The short answer
Add interest, then chase. A placement fee is an ordinary business debt, so once it is late you can add 8% a year over base rate1 and £40, £70 or £1002. The law doesn't set what you charge a client5, so your terms of business decide the rest. First find what they agreed, and when.
England and Wales only. WolfX is software, not a law firm.
What you can add
A £9,600 placement fee, 46 days late
Say you placed an accountant on £48,000 with another business, at a 20% fee: £9,600. The invoice is dated 3 August 2026, the start date, on 14-day terms, so it fell due on 17 August 2026. It went late on 18 August, so the second-half 2026 rate applies. On 2 October it is still unpaid: 46 days late.
Then it grows by £3.09 a day until they pay.
The road ahead
Six steps. Free until a court claim.
Step 1: Read what the client agreed
Find the terms of business and check they say five things: the fee and the salary it is worked on; the event that makes it due (offer accepted or start date); the payment days; the rebate scale and its conditions; and what counts as an introduction, and for how long.
If it was not signed, look at what you sent, when, and what the client did next: whether they replied, interviewed and hired after receiving your terms. See do my terms apply if the client never signed them.
Step 2: Check the invoice follows them
Match the invoice to the clause: the trigger, the salary, the due date. An invoice raised on the offer date when your terms say start date gives the client a reason to wait, so cancel it and reissue. If the client took on a temp you supplied, a transfer fee is only enforceable if your contract meets regulation 107.
Step 3: Work out the sum
For an invoice that went late in the second half of 2026 the rate is 11.75% a year4: 8% plus the Bank of England base rate3. Day 1 is the day after the due date.
The fixed sum comes with statutory interest2: add it once, by the size of the invoice. If your terms set their own interest rate, statutory interest does not apply1, so use your rate and leave the fixed sum out.
Step 4: Chase on day 7 and day 14
Day 7 late, a short reminder. Day 14, the letter below, with the sum worked out and 14 days to pay. The law fixes none of these days.
Step 5: Answer a rebate argument with the clause
If the client says the candidate left early or was not suitable, ask them to quote the clause. Only the rebate clause counts, and a rebate usually reduces the fee on a scale rather than wiping it. Do not offer more than the clause gives, and do not ask the candidate for any of the fee: an agency cannot charge a work-seeker6.
Step 6: Day 30: send a letter before action
Give a company 14 days to reply8. If the client is a sole trader, give 30 days9.
Then start the claim. The steps are in what is a letter before action.
A letter you can copy
Letter chasing an unpaid placement fee
Send it about 14 days after the due date, to the client's accounts contact and the hiring manager together.
Tap a highlighted gap to see what goes in it.
Send it by email to both people so it is dated, with the invoice and your terms of business attached. If your clause for the fee has a different number from your rebate clause, quote the fee clause here and the rebate clause only when they raise it. If your terms set their own interest rate, quote that clause and rate in place of the Act line, and leave the fixed sum out of the letter and the total unless your terms add one.
When not to bother
When it isn't worth it
- The fee is small and the client sends you good vacancies. Weigh the fee against the next few placements before you write; should I charge interest at all covers the trade-off.
- The terms were not sent and you cannot show the introduction. The fee is hard to hold, so ask the client for a short signed agreement now, before the next candidate.
- The candidate left inside the rebate period and your clause gives a rebate. You owe a reduction, not nothing: work it out from the clause and chase the rest.
- The client is in liquidation or administration. Chasing the client stops being the tool; see what happens to my invoice.
- The client is in Scotland or Northern Ireland. The court route differs there, and this page covers England and Wales.
The Wolf's note
The law has no view on your percentage, so the clause is the whole case. Read it before you write to anyone, then quote it line by line. Their reply will show whether the argument is about the clause or about the money.
Mr. Wolf · the AI inside WolfX
What comes next
Your next move
The client hired my candidate through the back door. Can I charge?
Yes, if your terms set a fee for the hire and it falls in the period they name.
5 min read · Letter included
Put it in writing
What is a letter before action, and how do I write one?
A formal last letter before a court claim, and you can write it yourself.
7 min read · Letter included
My client disputes my invoice. What happens next?
The disputed part waits.
6 min read · Letter included
Don't want to do this yourself?
The Wolf does every step for you. He works out the sums, writes the letters and keeps track of every date. Nothing goes without your yes.