AnswersCourt, and what comes after
Do I need a solicitor to recover an unpaid invoice?
The short answer
Usually not. The court's rules ask the person making the claim to write first1, and the court looks at what the letter says, not whose letterhead is on it. On a small claim, up to £10,0002, a winner usually cannot get legal fees back3, so a solicitor's bill is mostly yours to pay. Pay for one when a bigger claim is disputed, they counterclaim, or the company is failing.
England and Wales only. WolfX is software, not a law firm.
What you can add
What a £6,000 claim costs to run yourself
Say you invoiced another business £6,000, due on 31 July 2026. It is now 31 October, they have ignored your letter, and you start a claim yourself. The fee follows the amount you claim, interest included6, so £6,000 and its interest sit in one band. These are the court fees if they defend it all the way to a hearing.
That is the court's bill up to judgment. The hearing fee is not due if you settle first6, and if you win, the court can order them to repay both fees3. A solicitor's fee would sit on top. The court usually allows only a fixed sum for starting the claim3 towards it, so you carry most of it even if you win. The brief below asks each firm for a price in writing. What agencies charge is on its own page.
The road ahead
Five steps. No solicitor, only court fees.
Step 1: Check it is a job you can do yourself
Run it yourself if the claim is £10,000 or less2, or bigger and not disputed, and the company has an address in England or Wales.
If not, or if a bigger claim turns into a dispute, send the brief below to a solicitor who does debt claims and ask for a fixed fee. GOV.UK says a complex claim may need legal advice7 and shows where to find a solicitor10.
Step 2: Write the letter before action yourself
The rules ask the claimant, which is you, to write it1: what is owed, how you worked it out and what you want, by a date. A solicitor's letterhead may sway the other side, but the court asks whether both sides complied in substance1 with them.
A company usually gets 14 days to reply1. A sole trader falls under a different protocol; the letter page has the wording and the dates.
Step 3: Start the claim online
Use the online money claim7: you give the company's name and address, then pay the court fee by card. It is £35 to £4556 for a claim of up to £10,000, and £455 for £6,000.
Add the interest and the fixed late-payment sum to the claim.
Step 4: Take the free mediation call, then the hearing
If they dispute a claim of £10,000 or less, the court sends both sides to free mediation8: a phone call of up to an hour. Go to it: a judge can sanction someone who does not, up to striking out the claim.
The hearing is informal3, and on a small claim an officer, such as a director, or an employee may speak for the company4.
Step 5: Ask the court to collect, if they still do not pay
The court can question an officer of the company about its money, send bailiffs or freeze a bank account9. Questioning starts at £696.
Bailiffs for a judgment of £5,000 or more must come through the High Court9, where GOV.UK says you may need legal advice. What to do once you have won.
A letter you can copy
Brief for a solicitor, asking for a fixed fee
Send it to two or three firms when a bigger claim is disputed, they counterclaim or the company is failing, or when you would rather pay than do it yourself.
Tap a highlighted gap to see what goes in it.
Attach the invoice, the contract or emails that agreed the work, proof it was delivered, and every chase with its date. Send it by email so it is dated, and keep a copy. Send the same brief to two or three firms and compare the answers line by line. A fixed fee is only comparable if each firm says what it covers.
When not to bother
When it isn't worth it
- The claim is over £10,000 and they dispute it. Above the small claims limit, the loser usually pays the winner's costs5, so losing costs you theirs too. Ask a solicitor who does debt claims first.
- They counterclaim for a large sum. The court weighs the counterclaim's value2 when it picks the track, so a big one can push the claim off the small claims track and its costs cap. Ask a business-disputes solicitor first.
- The company is going under. In administration, a claim needs the administrator's consent or the court's permission12. Tell whoever runs it what you are owed, then ask an insolvency practitioner or insolvency solicitor.
- It is building work and you want adjudication. The Construction Act has an adjudicator decide within 28 days11 of referral unless longer is agreed, so the papers must be ready on day one. See a construction solicitor first.
- The company is outside England and Wales. You cannot claim online7 against a company with no address in England or Wales. Ask a solicitor in the country where it is based how to claim there.
The Wolf's note
A solicitor's fee buys their work, not your payment. Until the other side starts to argue, a clear debt asks little of you: the invoice, the sum and a date. Hire one when the case turns hard, not when it turns tiresome.
Mr. Wolf · the AI inside WolfX
What comes next
Your next move
How do I take a company to court for an unpaid invoice?
Send a letter before action, then claim online.
7 min read · Letter included
What do debt collection agencies charge, and are they worth it?
Rarely, for one invoice.
7 min read · Letter included
Is it worth suing a company that has no money?
Only if it owns something you can take.
7 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.