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Can I send a letter before action by email?

The short answer

Yes, to a company. The pre-action rules ask you to write to the other side with the details of your claim1 and name no way of delivering it, so an email counts. The rule that needs their written agreement to email belongs to court papers such as the claim form2, not to this letter. Post a copy as well; to a sole trader, the debt protocol says post it6, with email as an extra.

Mara, WolfX research desk
Written with AI, checked by a person · 9 October 2026

England and Wales only. WolfX is software, not a law firm.

The numbers

The numbers that make it count.

4.30pmCourt service rules: an email sent before this on a business day counts that day.3

14 daysThe reply time the court treats as reasonable in a straightforward case.1

30 daysThe reply time if the customer is a sole trader.6

What you can add

A £4,250 invoice, letter sent on 13 October

Say you invoiced another business £4,250, due on Monday 10 August 2026. On Tuesday 13 October at 3pm you email the letter and post it. The email counts that day and the post on Thursday 15 October. The 14 days run from sending, so they end on Tuesday 27 October. The invoice went late on 11 August, so interest runs at 11.75% a year11: 8% over a Bank Rate of 3.75%10. Day 78 is 27 October.

£4,250.00The invoice

£106.72Interest: £4,250 × 11.75% ÷ 365 × 78 days8

£70.00Fixed sum (invoices from £1,000 to £9,999.99)9

£4,426.72Owed on 27 October 2026

Then it grows by £1.37 a day. If it is unpaid on 28 October, a claim for about £4,427 costs a £205 court fee12 to start.

The road ahead

Five steps. The cost is a stamp.

Step 1: Find the right address
Use the email address they have used with you, not a general inbox. Look up the registered office on Companies House7 too.
A sole trader is different: the Debt Claims protocol says the letter goes by post6, with email as an extra, and it has its own pack and 30 days. See that page.
Cost: FreeTime: 5 minutes
Step 2: Email the letter as a PDF
Put the pay-by date in the subject and ask for a one-line reply. Ask too whether they will accept service of documents, court papers included, by email at that address, and about any limit on format or size. Only a clear yes gives you the written agreement the court rules ask for2 before court papers go by email.
Without that agreement, serving a company by email needs the court's order.
Cost: FreeTime: 10 minutes
Step 3: Post it the same day
Send a signed-for copy to the registered office. Leaving a document at or posting it to that office4 is service on a company, and the office must be an address where post reaches someone5.
More on proving delivery is on that page.
Cost: PostageTime: Same day
Step 4: Count 14 days from the day you send it
Send both the same business day, the email before 4.30pm, and give 14 days1 from that day, as the attached letter does. By the court's yardstick, the email then counts that day, and first class post two days later3 if that is a business day.
Cost: FreeTime: 14 days
Step 5: Keep the sent email and the postal receipt
A read receipt only shows someone opened the email. The rules run from the day it was sent3, so keep the sent copy with its date and time.
Cost: FreeTime: 2 minutes

A letter you can copy

Covering email for a letter before action

Send it with the letter before action attached as a PDF, on the day you post the paper copy.

New email

SubjectLetter before action, invoice : reply by

Dear , Attached is my letter before action about invoice , dated , for . It was due on and has not been paid. The letter sets out the basis of the claim, the facts and how the sum is worked out. With interest and the fixed sum under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, the total is if paid by . Interest adds for each day after that. Please pay the full amount by to: If you believe any of this is wrong, please tell me before that date and say why. If it is not paid by then, I will start a claim in the County Court without further notice. A copy of the letter is also being posted to your registered office, . Could you reply to this email with one line to confirm you have received it? Could you also confirm whether you will accept service of documents, including court documents, by email at , and tell me any limit on format or attachment size? Kind regards,

Tap a highlighted gap to see what goes in it.

Send it from your business address with the letter attached as a PDF. Keep the sent email, with its date and time, beside the invoice. Post the full letter the same day, signed for, and keep the posting receipt. The full letter before action is on that page.

When not to bother

When it isn't worth it

The customer is a sole trader. The Debt Claims protocol6 has its own pack and 30 days to reply, so use the page on that protocol instead.
The sum is small and they answer emails. Email alone is enough. Post as well when the sum is large, when they have gone quiet, or when you have no sign they read that address.
The company is in administration or liquidation. A letter before action is the wrong tool; see the page on liquidation.
The customer is a consumer, not a business. Consumer debts work differently, and these pages do not cover them.
The customer is in Scotland or Northern Ireland. The court rules differ there, and this page covers England and Wales only.

The Wolf's note

If this reaches a court, the question will be whether the letter arrived and whether they had time to answer. Email it, post it, keep both records. Then the date is the only thing left to watch.

Mr. Wolf · the AI inside WolfX

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