AnswersWhen a client won't pay
Who do I chase at a big company?
The short answer
Three people, in order. Ask accounts payable where your invoice is, the person who approves it why it is stuck, and the budget holder only if neither can move it. Every large company must publish a payment report at least twice a year1, and the report must include its own account of how it resolves payment disputes with suppliers2, so you can read its process before you pick up the phone.
What you can add
A £6,200 invoice, paid 34 days late
Say you invoiced a large company £6,200, due on Friday 14 August 2026. On Monday 24 August, day 10, you ask accounts payable where it is, and that week you learn who has to approve it. It is paid in the run on Thursday 17 September: 34 days late. The invoice went late between 1 July and 31 December 2026, so the rate is 11.75%.
The run paid the £6,200. The other £137.86, about £2.00 a day of interest plus the £70, can usually still be charged on an invoice paid late9. How to claim it.
The road ahead
Seven steps. All free.
Step 2: Ask accounts payable where it is
They log, match and pay invoices, and usually cannot approve one. Email them from day 7 late with the letter below. The law fixes none of these days: they are a rhythm, counted from the due date or, if you agreed none, from 30 days after they got the invoice or the work, whichever is later6.
Step 3: Ask the approver why it is stuck
Send it in the same week as the first email. The approver confirms the work was done or the goods arrived. It is often the person you dealt with or their manager. Ask: "Has it been approved? If not, what do you need from me?"
Step 4: Go up one level, with the sum
At day 14, ask the budget holder or the approver's manager: "Can you confirm this was commissioned, and who can approve it?" Put the interest and fixed sum7 worked out in the same note. The budget holder matters most when there is no purchase order or the sum is over the approver's limit.
Step 5: Write down every answer
After each reply, note the name, the date and what they said. If the answer is "not me", ask who it is. A dated list of names is what makes the next letter specific.
Step 6: Still unpaid at day 30? Send the formal letter
The debt is the company's, so address a letter before action to the company at its registered office, not to a person. Where to send it and how to prove it arrived.
Step 7: Or ask the Small Business Commissioner
A small business with an unresolved payment dispute with a larger customer can make an enquiry5. The service is free and confidential. What it can and cannot do.
A letter you can copy
Email to accounts payable
Send it on day 7 late, to the accounts payable address, copying the person you dealt with.
Tap a highlighted gap to see what goes in it.
Send it by email, copying the person you dealt with, so there is a dated record. Put the order number in the subject line if you have one.
When not to bother
When it isn't worth it
- One person is all three roles. A small customer has no ladder to climb, so start with what to do first.
- The invoice was rejected or disputed. The question is then the rejection, not the person, so read what happens next and settle any undisputed part.
- The company looks as if it is failing. Check whether it is insolvent before you spend days on the ladder.
- They are not that big. Only a large business1 must report: two of £54 million turnover, £27 million balance sheet, 250 staff. A smaller one publishes nothing, so ask your contact.
- It is a council or an NHS body. Same three roles; payment is usually due within 30 days6. See public bodies.
The Wolf's note
An invoice stuck at a big company is waiting in somebody's queue. Each person on the ladder can answer one question and not the others. Ask each theirs, write down the name and the date, and climb only when the rung you are on cannot move it.
Mr. Wolf · the AI inside WolfX
What comes next
Your next move
Put it in writing
Where do I send a formal letter to a limited company, and how do I prove it arrived?
Send it to the company's registered office by post that records a signature, and email it too.
5 min read · Letter included
What is the Small Business Commissioner, and can it help me get paid?
Yes, if you have fewer than 50 staff and your customer is a larger private business.
6 min read · Letter included
Don't want to do this yourself?
The Wolf does every step for you. He works out the sums, writes the letters and keeps track of every date. Nothing goes without your yes.