AnswersCourt, and what comes after
Is it worth suing a company that has no money?
The short answer
Only with assets. A judgment is a piece of paper until something enforces it, so check what the company owns before you pay a court fee: Companies House and the Gazette are free, and the judgments register is £68. Once you win, the court can make a company officer attend and answer questions on oath2 about what it owns, for £694. You can't use that before judgment, which is why the free records come first.
England and Wales only. WolfX is software, not a law firm.
What you can add
What chasing a £3,400 invoice costs if nobody defends it
Say a print firm sold another company £3,400 of work, due on 31 July 2026. It is unpaid, the director says there is nothing to pay with, and a claim with interest and the fixed sum would sit in the £3,000.01 to £5,000 fee band4. Companies House and the Gazette cost nothing, so no court fee is paid until the records have been read.
- Companies House: accounts, charges, status6£0.00
- The Gazette: insolvency notices11£0.00
- Judgments register: one company, VAT included8£6.00
- Fee to start the claim (claims of £3,000.01 to £5,000)4£205.00
- Fee to question a company officer on oath4£69.00
- Warrant of control, to send county court bailiffs4£96.00
- Fees if nobody defends it and you serve the order yourself£376.00
That is 11.1% of the £3,400 invoice. If you win and the company pays, you may be able to claim the fees back5. If it has nothing, the £370 in court fees stays with you for now, and the £6 was yours either way. A defended claim that reaches a hearing adds £3464 on top. Either way, a judgment stays on the register for six years9, and bailiffs can be sent without the court's permission3 in those six years. A company with nothing today can have something later.
The road ahead
Three checks for £6, one email, then a choice.
Step 1: Read its Companies House page and latest accounts
Go by the register, whatever the director says. Companies House shows its status, accounts due dates, filings and insolvency entries6 for free. "Active" only means it is still live, not that it can pay. Open the newest accounts and look for cash, stock and what customers owe it, set against what it owes.
A private company has nine months after its year ends7 to file, so the newest set can be 21 months old and still on time. Companies House makes only basic checks6 on accounts, so read them as a snapshot of the past.
Step 2: Look for a lender's charge
Open its charges list. A lender holding security stands ahead of you if the company fails, and unsecured creditors, usually suppliers, come last: in an Insolvency Service study of 2017 liquidations, they got nothing in 90% of cases12.
Those firms had already failed; yours may not have. Who is paid first sets out the full order.
Step 3: Check who else has gone after it
Search The Gazette's insolvency notices10, which cost nothing11 to search. A winding-up order, a liquidator or an administrator means you need a proof of debt, not a claim.
Then search the register of judgments: one company costs £68. Judgments from other creditors still shown as unpaid suggest they sued and went unpaid.
A judgment paid within a month can come off the register9, so a blank result proves little.
Step 4: Send one last email with a dated offer
Email the letter below with the sum worked out: the invoice, interest and the fixed sum. It sets one pay-by date and offers a dated payment plan in writing. A reply, a plan or silence all tell you something.
If a letter before action has already gone, skip this and set no new date. If you go on to sue, name the day your claim starts, or start it.
Step 5: Set the cost against what you found
If nobody defends it, the cost is the fee to start your claim, plus £694 to question an officer, plus £964 if you then send county court bailiffs. The bailiff's own fees are charged to the company1, out of what its goods raise.
Cash, stock or money owed to it, with no charge over them, is usually worth a claim. Nil cash, overdue accounts, a charge over everything or unpaid judgments from others is usually not.
Step 6: If it holds something, sue, then question an officer
Start the claim as the court page sets out. Once you hold judgment, the rules let you ask2 for an order making an officer of the company attend court, bring documents and answer on oath. You apply without notice.
The order must be served 14 days or more before the hearing2. Serve it yourself, or pay £1394 for a court bailiff to. The officer can ask you to cover their travel2.
Then pick bailiffs, a bank freeze or a charge on land.
Step 7: If it holds nothing, stop spending and keep the claim
Follow the company6 for free email alerts: new accounts, or notice of a strike-off you can object to. Ask for cash up front on new work. You have six years from the due date to start a claim.
You may be able to reclaim the VAT six months after it fell due. A signed personal guarantee would change the answer: see the director page.
A collection agency has no powers you lack, so it cannot find money that is not there.
A letter you can copy
Final email with a dated offer of a payment plan
Send it once the free checks suggest the company holds something, or you cannot tell, and only if no letter before action has gone. If one has, set no new date: name the day your claim starts.
Tap a highlighted gap to see what goes in it.
Send it by email to the person who approves payments, and post a copy to the registered office shown at Companies House, so it is dated and on record. Keep a copy with the invoice. A reply, a plan or silence all go into the sum in step 5.
When not to bother
When it isn't worth it
- It is in liquidation or administration. Suing is the wrong tool. Send a proof of debt or register the debt instead.
- It has been dissolved. You would first have to ask a court to restore it, and that road has its own page.
- They dispute the invoice. A hearing adds £346 on a small claim over £3,000, or £619 on the fast track4, usual between £10,000 and £25,000. Settle the undisputed part first.
- You want the director to pay instead. The invoice is the company's, not theirs, unless they signed a personal guarantee. The director page has the exception.
- The company or its assets are in Scotland or Northern Ireland. Those countries have their own courts and enforcement. This page covers England and Wales.
The Wolf's note
Spend in the order of what you learn: the free records, then £6, then the court's fee. Stop the first time the answer is nothing, and put the next job on cash up front. The Follow alert will tell you if that changes.
Mr. Wolf · the AI inside WolfX
What comes next
Your next move
I won in court but they still haven't paid. How do I make them pay?
Three routes to enforce a CCJ against a company: bailiffs for its goods, a third-party debt order for its bank balance, a charging order for its land.
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What is a CCJ against a company, and what does it actually do?
A CCJ is a court order to pay, not the money.
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When it first goes quiet
A struggling client wants a payment plan. Should I agree, and how do I set one up?
Yes, with money on signing, a signed written plan and a clause making the whole balance due if a payment is missed.
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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.