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What is the Small Business Commissioner, and can it help me get paid?

The short answer

Yes, for larger customers. The Small Business Commissioner1 is a free2 public body that can look into a late payment if you have fewer than 50 staff9 and your customer is a larger private business. It can recommend, but its decisions are not legally binding7, so it cannot order anyone to pay. Ask it before you start a court claim: a case already in court is excluded6.

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 numbers that decide it.

£0What it costs to ask. The service is free.2

50 staffSmall means fewer than 50 staff. Your customer must be larger, private and have a UK base.9 5

12 monthsFrom the due date, to complain. The Commissioner can extend it if the customer stalled.2 9

5 daysThe Commissioner says it replies to an enquiry within five business days.4

What you can add

A £14,500 invoice, 69 days late

Say your firm has 12 staff and invoiced a larger customer £14,500 on 1 June 2026, on 60-day terms. It was due on 31 July 2026. On 8 October it is still unpaid: 69 days late. Interest started on 1 August, so the rate is the one for debts that went late between 1 July and 31 December 2026: 11.75%.

£14,500.00The invoice

£322.08Interest: £14,500 × 11.75% ÷ 365 × 69 days11

£100.00Fixed sum (invoices of £10,000 or more)11

£14,922.08Owed on 8 October 2026

It grows by £4.67 a day until they pay. Asking the Commissioner costs £02 and can end in a recommendation. A court claim for this sum costs a £746.10 fee12, which you may be able to claim back if you win. Only the court can order payment.

The road ahead

Five steps. Four are free, the last is the court.

Step 1: Check it can take your case
You need fewer than 50 staff9, directors and partners counted too. Your customer must be a larger business5: one that is not small, has a place of business in the UK and is not a public authority.
It will not take construction work or a customer in administration2, and a complaint more than 12 months after the due date2 is usually too late. The Act also rules out complaints about the price and anything already in legal or adjudication proceedings6.
Cost: FreeTime: 5 minutes
Step 2: Tell your customer first, in writing
The Commissioner must dismiss a complaint9 if you have not told the customer what is wrong and given them a reasonable chance to deal with it. Email their finance director with the sum worked out, ask for a payment date, and give them 14 days; the rules set no number, so that is a fair gap.
If telling them would do your business significant harm, say so in the enquiry. The rules let the Commissioner excuse this step9 when there is information to support it.
Cost: FreeTime: 14 days
Step 3: Send the enquiry with the facts
Use the enquiry form3 on the Commissioner's site and give it the facts from the note below: invoice, due date, sum, every chaser and reply, and what you want.
The Commissioner must not reveal who complained, but the Act lets it tell your customer8. Its FAQs say staying unnamed can limit what it does2.
Cost: FreeTime: 20 minutes
Step 4: Answer its questions, then decide
It says it replies within five business days4 with advice and guidance. A formal complaint goes further: it can ask both sides for papers7, which they give voluntarily, and it judges what is fair and reasonable.
It ends in a written decision with reasons, sent to both sides. The Commissioner sets the timetable9, including for that decision, so ask it for one.
Cost: FreeTime: 5 business days to a reply
Step 5: Still unpaid? Move to the court
A recommendation is not an order. If the customer ignores it, or you need the money now, send a letter before action and then claim in court.
Once you claim, the Commissioner can dismiss your complaint9. The court steps here are for England and Wales; the Commissioner takes small businesses anywhere in the UK3.
Cost: Court fee: £746.10 on the sum aboveTime: 14 or 30 days

A letter you can copy

Enquiry note to the Small Business Commissioner

Send it once your last email to the customer has gone unanswered, or has been answered without a payment date.

New email

SubjectEnquiry: unpaid invoice from

Dear Small Business Commissioner team, I run , a small business with staff. I am making an enquiry about an unpaid invoice from , which I understand is a larger business with a place of business in the UK. Invoice , dated , for , covers . It was due on and has not been paid. The price is not in dispute, and no court or adjudication proceedings have started. I raised this with by email on and asked for a payment date by . I would like to ask you to look into this and recommend that pays the invoice in full, with the interest and fixed sum due under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, or gives me a firm date for payment. I can send the invoice, the order or contract, and my emails to whenever you ask. If you think any of this is wrong or missing, please tell me and I will put it right. Please tell me what else you need from me, and the timetable you will work to, with the date you expect to give your decision. Kind regards,

Tap a highlighted gap to see what goes in it.

Copy the facts from it into the Commissioner's online enquiry form, and keep a dated copy of the note with the invoice. Change any line that is not true for you before you send it, such as the one saying the price is not in dispute. Keep your emails to the customer. The Commissioner may ask for them.

When not to bother

When it isn't worth it

They're a small business, a council or an NHS body. The Commissioner only takes larger private businesses2. For public bodies, see council and NHS interest.
It's construction work. The Commissioner does not take it2 because the law gives you adjudication instead.
They're in administration. The Commissioner cannot help recover money from a company in administration2. Read what to do when a company is in administration.
You need the money soon and they do not dispute the debt. A recommendation is not an order. A letter before action, then a court claim, is the route that can end in a court order.
You are waiting for the new law. A Bill before Parliament would let the Commissioner adjudicate and fine10. It is not law, and the Government says it will not apply retrospectively.

The Wolf's note

The Commissioner can ask a large customer why you have not been paid, and it costs you one page of facts. It cannot make them answer, so use it inside the 12 months and keep the claim ready. Silence is a reply too, and it tells you the court is next.

Mr. Wolf · the AI inside WolfX

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