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Is it worth taking someone to court for a £300 invoice?

The short answer

Usually. When another business pays late, the invoice is not the whole claim: the law lets you add interest from the first late day1 and a fixed sum of £402, with no clause needed in your contract. That moves the court fee up a band, to £50 from £355, and if you win the court can order them to pay it back7. What stays yours is your time, and your fees if the claim fails or they cannot pay.

Mara, WolfX research desk
Written with AI, checked by a person · 8 October 2026

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

The numbers

What the claim adds and what it costs.

£40Fixed sum the law adds to a late business invoice under £1,000.2

£50To start a claim of £300.01 to £500. Up to £300 it is £35.5

£59Hearing fee on that claim, only if they defend it. Up to £300 it is £27.6

£96For county court bailiffs, only if a judgment is ignored.6

What you can add

A £300 invoice, 82 days late

Say you invoiced another business £300, due on 15 July 2026. On 5 October it is still unpaid: 82 days late. It went late in July 2026, so interest runs at 8% over the Bank of England rate3 on 30 June, 3.75%4: 11.75% a year.

£300.00The invoice

£7.92Interest: £300 × 11.75% ÷ 365 × 82 days4

£40.00Fixed sum (invoices under £1,000)2

£347.92Owed on 5 October 2026

A claim for that sum costs £50 to start6. On the invoice alone it would be £35, so the add-ons cost £15 more to start, and £32 more at a hearing, where the fee rises from £27 to £59. Claim the lot anyway. The extra £47.92 is owed to you under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 19982. If you win, the court can order them to pay7 £397.92, the claim plus the £50 fee, or £456.92 if you paid the £59 hearing fee too. Each later day adds just under 10p.

The road ahead

Six steps. £50 to start, the rest only if needed.

Step 1: Work out the whole claim
It is not £300. For an invoice that went late from July to December 2026, add interest at 11.75% a year4 from the day after the due date, and the £40 fixed sum2. The interest page shows the sum to the day.
Cost: FreeTime: 10 minutes
Step 2: Send the letter with the sum and a date
Email the letter below. The court expects a letter first10, with the sum worked out and 14 days for a company to answer. It costs nothing, and it shows them the exact sum and the date before a court fee is spent.
A sole trader is an individual, so the debt protocol11 applies: send its pack, as the letter page shows, and give 30 days.
Cost: Free by emailTime: 15 minutes, then 14 days
Step 3: Start the claim online
If the date in your letter passes, claim online12 with their name, address and email, and pay the fee by card. The fee follows the amount you claim plus interest5, so here it is £50, not £35. Both of you need an address in England or Wales.
Cost: £50 court feeTime: 20 minutes
Step 4: If they say nothing, ask for judgment
When their time to reply has run out, ask the court online to order payment. A claim nobody defends has no hearing, so no hearing fee falls due6. The dates are on the court road.
Steps 1 to 4 add up to about an hour of your own time, plus the waiting.
Cost: No hearing feeTime: 10 minutes
Step 5: If they defend, expect a call, then a hearing
A disputed claim of £10,000 or less goes to free mediation9: a phone call of up to an hour. Go to it. A judge can strike out your claim or make you pay all the court costs9 if you were told to attend and did not.
No deal means a hearing. Pay the £59 hearing fee6 by the date in the court's order, or the claim is struck out.
Cost: Call free; hearing £59Time: An hour, then up to a day
Step 6: Judgment ignored? Weigh the bailiff fee
A judgment is an order to pay, not the money. The court charges £96 to send bailiffs6. Pay that fee only once you know they still trade and own something. Bailiffs are only one of several ways to collect.
A claim that is defended and then ignored after judgment costs £205 in court fees (£50, £59 and £96), against £347.92 claimed.
Cost: £96, only if neededTime: 10 minutes to apply

A letter you can copy

Short letter before action for a small debt

Send it once your reminders have failed, from about day 30 late. It gives a company 14 days; for a sole trader see the note.

New email

SubjectInvoice : please pay by

Dear , Invoice , for , was due on . It has not been paid. A copy of the invoice is attached. Under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, interest and a fixed sum are also due. As at today: Invoice: Interest at a year, from the day after the due date: Fixed sum for late payment: Total due: Interest grows by about a day until it is paid. Please pay the total by to: If it is not paid by then, I will start a claim in the County Court without further notice, and ask the court to order you to pay the court fee as well. The fee for a claim this size is . If you believe any of this is wrong, please tell me before that date and say why. If you would rather talk it through first, reply to this email. Kind regards,

Tap a highlighted gap to see what goes in it.

Send it by email to the person who approves payments, and keep the sent copy with the invoice. A posted copy as well costs a stamp. A sole trader needs more than this: a Letter of Claim with an information sheet and reply form, and 30 days to answer. The letter page has the pack.

When not to bother

When it isn't worth it

Your customer is a consumer, not a business. The £40 and the interest only cover sales between businesses3. Consumer debts follow other rules, which this page does not cover.
They dispute it and your paperwork is thin. Lose, and your fees go, and you can be ordered to pay their travel and lost earnings7. Settle the undisputed part first.
They have nothing to collect. A judgment is an order to pay, not payment, and chasing it costs £96 more. Check that they still trade and own something before you pay the £50.
The client, or your time, is worth more than £300. Ring first, then send the letter: no court fee. A defended claim adds a call and a hearing, and a win brings back at most £95 a day of your lost earnings8.
Your contract sets its own interest rate. If it is a fair one, it replaces statutory interest3 and the £40 goes too2. Use that rate.

The Wolf's note

A £50 fee is cheap for a debt you can prove and dear for one you cannot. Send the letter and read what comes back: payment, a reason or silence. Silence is the quickest to act on, and a reason is worth weighing before the fee goes in.

Mr. Wolf · the AI inside WolfX

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