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What is the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims, and does it apply to me?

The short answer

If they're sole traders. The Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims1 is the set of steps a court expects before a business sues an individual, and it covers a business debt when the customer is a sole trader. You post a dated Letter of Claim with three enclosures, then wait 30 days from the date at the top1 before you start a claim. A limited company gets the court's usual 14 days3 instead.

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

The clock and the fee.

30 daysTo reply to a Letter of Claim, counted from the date at the top.1

14 daysThe court's usual reply time for a limited company, with no protocol.3

£205Court fee for a claim of £3,000.01 to £5,000.8

6 yearsTime limit to sue over an unpaid invoice (England and Wales).11

What you can add

A £3,150 invoice to a sole-trader café

Say you invoiced a café run by a sole trader £3,150, due on Friday 21 August 2026. It goes unpaid. You date and post your Letter of Claim on Monday 12 October, when it is 52 days late. The 30 days end on Wednesday 11 November, when it is 82 days late.

£3,150.00The invoice

£83.15Interest: £3,150 × 11.75% ÷ 365 × 82 days4

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

£3,303.15Owed on 11 November 2026

Then it grows by £1.01 a day until they pay. A claim for about £3,300 costs a £205 court fee, but only after the 30 days, any extra time the protocol gives, and 14 days' notice if they replied and nothing was agreed.

The road ahead

Seven steps. A stamp and one court fee.

Step 1: Check who you're chasing
The protocol covers a business debt when the debtor is an individual, including a sole trader1. It does not cover a limited company, or a debt another protocol covers, such as construction.
A sole trader has no company: the owner is personally responsible for the business's debts9. If Companies House10 lists a limited company under that name, use the ordinary letter before action. A partnership is not named, so the text does not say; a solicitor who does debt recovery can.
Cost: FreeTime: 5 minutes
Step 2: Work out the sum
Add interest and the fixed sum5 to the invoice. For invoices late from 1 July to 31 December 2026 the rate is 11.75% a year7: 8% plus the base rate6.
Each day late adds the invoice × 11.75% ÷ 365. Put the figures on a statement of account.
Cost: FreeTime: 15 minutes
Step 3: Gather the pack
The protocol asks for the letter below and three enclosures: the statement of account, the Information Sheet and Reply Form (Annex 11), and the Financial Statement form (Annex 2). Download the protocol2 for both annexes.
The court looks at substance, not small slips1, but it can weigh non-compliance when it orders costs3.
Cost: FreeTime: 20 minutes
Step 4: Date it and post it
Put the date at the top of the first page and post it that day, or the next day only if that is not reasonably possible1. Email can go as an extra, not instead.
Count your 30 days from that date, not from the day it lands.
Cost: A stampTime: Same day
Step 5: Wait 30 days from the date
No reply within 30 days of the date at the top1 and you may start a claim. Allow for a reply posted late in that period.
Cost: FreeTime: 30 days
Step 6: If they reply, read the clock again
If the Reply Form says they are getting debt advice, allow a reasonable time. In any event, do not claim less than 30 days after the completed form reaches you1, or less than 30 days after you send any documents they asked for, whichever is later.
Send what they ask for, or say why you can't, within 30 days of getting the request.
A payment plan they keep1 holds the claim off while they stick to it. If it breaks, send an updated Letter of Claim before you claim.
Cost: FreeTime: 30 days or more
Step 7: Give notice, then claim
If they replied and nothing is agreed, give at least 14 days' notice1, unless urgent action is needed, such as the six-year limit11 about to run out.
Then start your claim. The fee follows its size: £205 for £3,000.01 to £5,0008.
Cost: £205 on a £3,300 claimTime: 14 days' notice

A letter you can copy

Letter of Claim to a sole trader

Send it once friendly reminders have failed and the customer is a sole trader or other individual. Post it with three enclosures.

New email

SubjectLetter of Claim: invoice for

Dear , Letter of Claim: invoice for I am writing before I start court proceedings, as the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims asks. This letter and its enclosures are being posted to you. The debt. Invoice for was due on and has not been paid. It arises from this agreement: . A copy of any written agreement is available from me on request. Interest and charges. Interest is still running under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, at 8% a year above the Bank of England base rate. Interest to the date of this letter is , and it grows by a day. I have also added the fixed sum the Act allows, . No other charges have been added. The total due today is . The enclosed statement of account shows how it is worked out. I have not received any payment or any offer to pay by instalments. How to pay. Please pay by bank transfer to: If you would like to talk about paying in instalments, please contact me at the address below. Your reply. Please complete the enclosed Reply Form and send it to me at the address below. You have 30 days from the date at the top of this letter, so please reply by . The enclosed Information Sheet explains your options, and the Financial Statement form is there if you need time to pay. If you are getting debt advice, please say so on the Reply Form and I will allow a reasonable time. If you think any of this is wrong, please tell me why before that date. If I have not heard from you by then, I may start a claim in the County Court. Kind regards, Enclosures: statement of account; Information Sheet and Reply Form; Financial Statement form

Tap a highlighted gap to see what goes in it.

Post it on the date at the top (the next day only if that is not reasonably possible), and keep a copy and your proof of posting. Email a copy as well if you have their address. Put all three enclosures in the same envelope: the statement of account, the Information Sheet and Reply Form, and the Financial Statement form. Diary the reply-by date: a reply posted on day 30 can arrive after it. If they have paid anything or offered instalments, change the line saying they have not, and say why the offer will not do.

When not to bother

When it isn't worth it

They're a limited company. The protocol does not cover it; the court's usual 14 days3 applies, so send the ordinary letter before action.
Another protocol covers the debt. The Construction and Engineering protocol is the example the text gives1; a construction lawyer can say which one applies to yours.
They're a private individual, not trading. The protocol covers that too1, but consumer debts are outside these pages.
The sum is smaller than the trouble. A £300 invoice and its fixed sum mean a £50 court fee8 and 30 days or more of waiting. The £300 question weighs it up.
They're in Scotland or Northern Ireland. The route differs there; this page covers England and Wales.

The Wolf's note

Same invoice, different customer, different clock. The 30 days run from the date at the top of the letter, not the day it lands, so date it, post it and keep the proof. After that the reply, or the silence, is theirs.

Mr. Wolf · the AI inside WolfX

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