Can I charge for a quote or a pitch that didn't go ahead?
The short answer
Only if agreed first. A pitch fee is owed when you and the client agreed it before you started; with no agreement, there is usually nothing to invoice. Once it is agreed, a contract to carry out a service1 is covered by the late payment rules, so interest and a fixed sum apply if they pay late. The pitch also stays yours: the author, or their employer, is the first owner4 of the copyright, and it passes to someone else only by an assignment in writing, signed by you5.
England and Wales only. WolfX is software, not a law firm.
What you can add
A £1,200 pitch fee, paid 51 days late
Say a branding agency agreed a £1,200 pitch fee by email on 12 May 2026, before any work. It presented the pitch and invoiced on 20 June 2026, due 4 July 2026, and the client paid on 24 August 2026: 51 days late.
Interest ran at 39p a day until the money arrived. The same pitch with no email agreeing a fee: nothing to invoice.
The road ahead
Four steps. All free.
Step 1: Sort what you did into three piles
A quote prices a job and is usually free by custom. A pitch is a sales effort and is free unless a fee was agreed. Work the client asked you to do is work. The first two need an agreement to be billable; the third may be billable even with no fee agreed up front (step 2).
Step 2: Look for the fee in writing
Search your email for a fee, agreed before you started. If you find one, it is a debt. If the client asked for specific work and said nothing about price, the law adds a term that they pay a reasonable charge2, but only under a contract for the service3, and what is reasonable is a question of fact.
Step 4: Next time, agree the fee in one email
Send the email below before any work starts, and wait for the reply "agreed". Make the fee payable whether or not they hire you; a fee that depends on winning is a success fee, and a lost pitch then owes nothing. Do not add a fee halfway through a pitch.
A letter you can copy
Email agreeing a pitch fee
Send it as soon as you are invited to pitch, before any work starts.
Tap a highlighted gap to see what goes in it.
Send it by email so it is dated, and keep their reply with your email beneath it. Do not start the pitch until the reply is in. If you do not want to credit the fee against the project, delete that sentence before sending.
When not to bother
When it isn't worth it
- The client is worth more than the fee. If you want the invitation to pitch more than the money, do it free this once, say so in writing, and ask for their feedback.
- It is a first, short quote. Check whether your trade gives these free by custom. If it does, price the job and let them decide.
- Nothing was agreed before the work. An invoice sent afterwards usually starts a dispute, not a payment. Unless they asked for specific work with no price, when a reasonable charge2 may apply, ask rather than invoice.
- Your client is a consumer, or you are outside England and Wales. The late payment rules cover contracts between businesses1, and consumer law is different. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own courts and time limits.
- The fee would put off a client you would have won. Offer a smaller paid first stage, or decline the free pitch.
The Wolf's note
Silence after a lost pitch is usually not a debt. A fee agreed in one email before the work is. Write the email while the invitation is still warm, and keep the reply.
Mr. Wolf · the AI inside WolfX
What comes next
Your next move
My client cancelled the project halfway. Do I still get paid?
Yes, for the work done up to the day they cancelled.
6 min read · Letter included
My client says they didn't authorise the extra work. Can I charge for it?
Yes, if they asked for it, or watched it done and let it go on.
What you can add
What is late payment compensation, and is it £40, £70 or £100?
All three. If you sold to a business, the law adds a fixed £40, £70 or £100 to each late invoice, by its size, on top of interest, with no costs to prove.
5 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.