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They replied to my letter asking for documents. Do I have to send them?

The short answer

Yes. If your customer is a sole trader, you must send what they asked for, or say why you can't, within 30 days of the request1. The catch: you should not start a court claim until 30 days after you have sent it1, so every day you sit on the request moves your earliest claim date back a day. A limited company has no protocol, but the court expects the parties to share key documents2.

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 two 30-day clocks.

30 daysTo send what they asked for, or say why you can't. Counted from their request.1

30 daysFrom the day you send it to the earliest day you can start a claim.1

£115Court fee to start a claim of about £2,952, as in the sum below.3

What you can add

A £2,780 invoice, 13 days later

Say you invoiced a sole-trader contractor £2,780 for plumbing supplies, due on Monday 10 August 2026. Your letter of claim is dated Tuesday 20 October, so their 30 days to reply end on Thursday 19 November. Their Reply Form arrives on Friday 30 October, asking for the invoices and the terms. A completed form alone holds your claim until 29 November. You send the documents on Monday 2 November, so the earliest day to claim is Wednesday 2 December: 13 days after the 19 November you started with. The invoice went late on 11 August 2026, so the rate for 1 July to 31 December 2026 applies: 8% over the base rate6 of 3.75%7, which is 11.75%.

£2,780.00The invoice

£102.02Interest: £2,780 × 11.75% ÷ 365 × 114 days4

£70.00Fixed sum (invoices from £1,000 to £9,999.99)5

£2,952.02Owed on 2 December 2026

Then it grows by £0.89 a day. The 13 days of waiting add £11.63 to what they owe. A claim for about £2,952 costs a £115 court fee3 to start.

The road ahead

Four steps. A stamp at most.

Step 1: Read what they asked for
Check the boxes on the Reply Form. Your 30 days to supply it1 run from the day your customer's request reached you, not from the date on your letter.
Cost: FreeTime: 10 minutes
Step 2: Pull what they named, and no more
Send what they named. If they dispute the debt, add enough to show your side1: invoice copies, a statement of account with interest, the terms, proof of delivery. If you lack something, say so and why: that is the other half of the duty1.
Cost: FreeTime: 1 hour
Step 3: Send it twice, with a dated cover note
Email the documents as attachments and post a copy the same day, with the letter below as the cover note. Keep both.
If they ticked a debt-advice box, allow a reasonable period1 and ring them. A partly filled form1 is an attempt to talk.
Cost: A stampTime: Same day
Step 4: Count 30 days from sending
Do not send a fresh letter of claim: its date would restart the count. Write the new earliest claim date on the file. They have replied, so if nothing is paid or agreed by then, the protocol asks for at least 14 days' notice of the day you will claim1. The letter below gives it.
Cost: FreeTime: 30 days

A letter you can copy

Letter sending the documents they asked for

Send it with the documents, within 30 days of their request. It suits a sole trader. For a limited company, cut the paragraph on the 30 days.

New email

SubjectInvoice : documents you asked for

Dear , Thank you for your Reply Form of . The documents you asked for are enclosed: I am sending them today, , by email and by post. The account is still open. Invoice , dated , for , was due on . With interest, the balance today is , growing by a day. I understand I should not start court proceedings less than 30 days from today. The earliest date I would do so is . If by then it is not paid and no payment plan is agreed, I intend to start a claim in the County Court on that date. Before then I would rather settle this. You are welcome to return to the Reply Form, or to ring me on to talk about paying in instalments. Could you tell me by whether you will pay the full amount, or what you can pay each month? If you believe any of this is wrong, please tell me before that date and say why. Kind regards,

Tap a highlighted gap to see what goes in it.

Email it with the documents attached, and post a copy the same day. Keep the sent email and the proof of posting: the date on them starts your 30 days. Do not date it from your first letter or call it a new letter of claim. It answers their request.

When not to bother

When it isn't worth it

The customer is a limited company. The protocol does not apply, so there is no formal wait; send the key documents2 quickly and carry on.
The work itself is disputed. If they say it was not done or not right, settle that first: see what happens when a client disputes an invoice.
You do not hold what they asked for. Say so, and why, within the 30 days. Then rebuild it from delivery notes and emails.
The sum is small. A claim for a few hundred pounds costs £35 to £703 to start, but the wait still runs; a call about paying in instalments can close it sooner.
You are in Scotland or Northern Ireland. These steps are for England and Wales; the routes differ there.

The Wolf's note

A request for documents is a question. Answer it the day it lands and your claim date slips by days, not weeks. The date on your cover note is the one that counts.

Mr. Wolf · the AI inside WolfX

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