A cleaning firm's office at 9pm, a printed letter and a postage receipt on the desk.

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They ignored my letter before action. What next?

The short answer

Start the claim. Once your date has passed and the company is still on the register, the next step is a court claim online for £35 to £455 up to £10,0004, not a second deadline. The court's pre-action rules can count silence as a failure to follow them1, and if the company later defends, a judge can raise the interest it pays1. A statutory demand is a heavier road, worth it only if the company has money.

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

What each road costs.

£35–£455Court fee to start a claim up to £10,000, set by the claim plus interest.4

£2,952A petition after an ignored statutory demand: £352 fee plus £2,600 deposit.8

28 daysTime the company has to answer an online claim, counted from the day it is issued.6

6 yearsHow long you can still start a claim if you stop now, usually from the due date.10

What you can add

A £5,400 invoice, 46 days late: what each road costs

Say you invoiced another business £5,400 for three months of contract cleaning, due on 31 August 2026. It went late on 1 September, so the rate is 8%11 over the Bank Rate on 30 June 2026, 3.75%12: 11.75% a year. You posted a letter before action on 30 September, giving until 14 October. Nothing came back. You send the last email on 15 October and start the claim on 16 October, 46 days late.

The invoice£5,400.00
Interest: £5,400 × 11.75% ÷ 365 × 46 days11£79.96
Fixed sum (invoices from £1,000 to £9,999.99)11£70.00
Court fee (claims from £5,000.01 to £10,000)4£455.00
Claim plus fee on 16 October 2026£6,004.96

You pay the £455 fee when you submit the claim, and a judgment on request includes the fee6. Interest then grows by £1.74 a day, so the claim asks for it to continue. The other roads, on the same £5,549.96. If a statutory demand is ignored, a petition costs £352 plus a £2,600 deposit8: £2,952 up front, £2,497 more than this fee, and you might not get all or any of what you are owed. Stopping costs £0, and the debt stays open to claim for six years10.

The road ahead

Seven steps. One court fee to start.

Step 1: Check your date has really passed
A company gets 14 days1 in a simple case. That is the court's yardstick, not a hard deadline: count from the date in your letter and allow the post a day or two.
A sole trader gets 30 days from the date at the top of the letter2, allowing for a reply posted at the end. Any reply, even a refusal, changes the road: a dispute has its own page.
Cost: FreeTime: 5 minutes
Step 2: Check the company is still there
Search Companies House3 for the registered name and number, not the trading name on your invoice, and look for an administrator or a liquidator. Search The Gazette for a winding-up petition, which is advertised there rather than filed at Companies House: how to check both.
If one has started, stop. The road changes, and liquidation and administration each have their own page.
Cost: FreeTime: 10 minutes
Step 3: Choose: claim, demand or stop
A claim is the usual road. On the claim in the example, the fee is £4554, and you may get it back if you win.
A statutory demand is for a debt over £7509 owed by a company with the money to pay it. If it is ignored, a petition is £352 plus a £2,600 deposit8.
Stopping costs nothing, and the debt stays: you can usually still start a claim up to six years10 after it fell due. The demand has its own page.
Cost: Claim £455, petition £2,952, stop £0Time: 10 minutes
Step 4: Send the last email
The day after your date passes, email whoever approves payments and post a copy to the registered office. It says the date has passed, names the day the claim starts and keeps your offer to talk open. It asks for no new date to pay: you gave a reasonable time1 and they have had it.
That offer matters: silence in answer to an invitation to try mediation could lead the court to order extra costs1.
Cost: A stampTime: Same day
Step 5: Start the claim online
Claim online on GOV.UK4. You need the company's registered name, address and email, and a card for the fee. Both sides need an address in England or Wales; Scotland and Northern Ireland use another process.
The fee follows the claim plus interest, by band: £35 to £300, £50 to £500, £70 to £1,000, £80 to £1,500, £115 to £3,000, £205 to £5,000, £455 to £10,000, then 5% of the claim4.
Work out the interest to the day you issue, and use the court page for the wording. Keep the invoice, contract, letter and proof of posting together: what else counts.
Cost: £455 on this claimTime: Under an hour
Step 6: Give them their time
Online, the company has until 4pm on day 28 after the claim is issued6. On a paper claim form the time is different, and the court page gives both.
If it turns up with a defence, you still have to show the debt. On a claim of £10,000 or less, you will be told you must attend mediation, which is free4.
If you win, the court can weigh their silence and order interest of up to 10% above base rate and some of your costs1. The Late Payment Act already gives you 8% above base, so that adds 2% a year at most, and in a small claim few costs can be ordered7.
Cost: FreeTime: 28 days online
Step 7: If they stay silent, ask for judgment
Silent past that, ask on the same site. The court must enter judgment6, and the request has no fee5, unless the company has replied or paid first.
A judgment is an order to pay, not the money: collecting it is a separate job.
Cost: No feeTime: 10 minutes

A letter you can copy

Last email, the day after your date passes

Send it the day after the date in your letter before action, if nothing has come back. It names the day the claim starts and asks for no new date to pay.

New email

SubjectInvoice : claim to be started on

Dear , On I sent you a letter before action about invoice , for , which was due on . It asked for payment by . That date has passed, and I have had neither payment nor a reply. As at today the amount owed is : the invoice, interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, and the fixed sum for late payment. Interest is still growing by a day. I will start a claim in the County Court on for that sum, with the court fee and further interest. This email does not give a new date to pay. I would still rather settle this without a court. If you want to talk it through, or think mediation would help, please reply before . If you have already paid, please tell me the date and the amount. If you believe any of this is wrong, please tell me before and say why. Kind regards,

Tap a highlighted gap to see what goes in it.

Email it to the person who approves payments the day after your date passes, and post a copy to the registered office. Keep both with the letter before action and its proof of posting. Start the claim on the day you named. The email asks for no new date to pay, so there is nothing to wait for. Sole trader? Send it only after their 30 days from the date at the top of your letter of claim have run.

When not to bother

When it isn't worth it

The company is in liquidation or administration. A claim is the wrong tool. Check the register first, then claim in the liquidation if there is one.
Your date has not passed, or the letter did not reach them. A claim started early can count against you1. Wait for the date. If it went astray, resend it to the right person and the registered office.
They have replied and disputed it. A reply with a reason is not silence. Ask what is disputed, get the undisputed part paid, and read what happens next.
The company has nothing to collect. A judgment is an order to pay, not money, so the £455 fee4 can be wasted. Read its accounts first; collecting costs more.
The debt is a few hundred pounds. A claim of £500 or less costs £35 or £50 to start4, at least a tenth of it before your own hours. Ring first, and send the email if the call changes nothing.

The Wolf's note

You gave one date and it passed in silence. A second date would tell them the first was optional. Issue the claim, write down the day, and let their 28 days run.

Mr. Wolf · the AI inside WolfX

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