Letter Before Claim Generator (UK)

About the Letter Before Claim Generator (UK)

Before you start a money claim in the County Court of England and Wales, the court expects you to have written to the other side: what the claim is about, the facts, how much you want and how you worked it out, and a reasonable time to reply (Practice Direction – Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols). Skip it, and the court can make you pay costs or lose interest even if you win.

This tool writes that letter from your details. It works out interest — statutory late-payment interest between businesses (8% over the Bank of England base rate, plus £40, £70 or £100 per invoice), a contract rate, or the 8% a year the court usually adds — lists the invoices and payments, and sets the deadline. When a business claims a debt from an individual or a sole trader, it switches to the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims: a Letter of Claim with the protocol’s Information Sheet and Reply Form attached and 30 days to reply.

The free preview shows every page with your details and the first part of the wording, and hides the rest; a Premium pass unlocks the full letter to download, copy or print.

Common uses

• A freelancer or small company chasing an unpaid invoice from a client company, with late-payment interest.
• A tradesperson or landlord claiming money from an individual, with the Debt Claims protocol pack.
• A person claiming back a deposit, a loan to a friend or the cost of putting right poor work.
• Checking what interest, compensation and court fee a debt adds up to before deciding to claim.

What the court expects before a claim

The Practice Direction – Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols asks the claimant to write to the defendant with concise details of the claim: its basis, a summary of the facts, what the claimant wants and, for money, how the amount is calculated (para 6(a)). The defendant should reply within a reasonable time — 14 days in a straightforward case, no more than 3 months in a very complex one — saying whether the claim is accepted, and if not, why, and whether there is a counterclaim (6(b)). Both sides should disclose the key documents (6(c)) and consider settlement or mediation: litigation should be a last resort (paras 8–11).

If a claim follows, the court looks at whether the parties complied and can order the party who did not to pay the costs, to pay them on the indemnity basis, or to lose or pay extra interest (paras 13–16).

When the Debt Claims protocol applies

The Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims applies when a business — including a sole trader or a public body — claims a debt from an individual, including a sole trader; not between companies (para 1.1), and not for debts another protocol covers, such as mortgage arrears (1.4). The Letter of Claim must give the amount, whether interest or charges are continuing, the agreement (for a spoken one: who made it, what was agreed and when and where), how to pay and how to discuss payment, and where to send the Reply Form; it encloses a statement of account (or states the interest and charges added), the protocol’s Information Sheet and Reply Form and a Financial Statement (para 3.1). It is dated at the top, posted that day or the next (3.2–3.3), and the debtor has 30 days from its date to reply (3.4).

The tool attaches the Information Sheet and Reply Form in the protocol’s own words. Print the Financial Statement from Annex 2 of the protocol and enclose it.

Interest you can claim

• Between businesses — statutory interest: the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 applies when both of you acted in the course of a business. Interest runs from the day after the agreed payment date, or 30 days after the invoice when none was agreed (s.4), at 8% a year over the Bank of England base rate in force on the 30 June or 31 December before the interest starts (SI 2002/1675, art. 4); you also get a fixed sum of £40, £70 or £100 for each debt under £1,000, under £10,000, or larger, and reasonable recovery costs beyond that (s.5A). Not if your contract sets its own rate. Look up the base rate in the Bank Rate history.
• A contract rate: whatever your agreement says.
• Court interest: in a claim, the County Court may add simple interest at the rate it thinks fit (County Courts Act 1984, s.69); for most debts it is 8% a year, worked out daily, as GOV.UK explains. The letter says you will ask for it, without demanding it before a claim exists.

Court fees and claiming online

If the letter does not work, you can make a court claim for money online or by post. The fee depends on the value of the claim with interest added: £35 up 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 claim up to £200,000 and £10,000 above that (GOV.UK court fees). The checks show the fee for your figures. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own court procedures: this letter is for England and Wales.

Before you send it

• Breathing space: if the debtor tells you they are in a breathing space under the Debt Respite Scheme, you must not ask them for payment or start court action for that debt until it ends (guidance for creditors). The tool blocks the letter.
• Time limit: a claim on a contract must be brought within six years of when it accrued (Limitation Act 1980, s.5).
• Consumer complaints: if you are a consumer complaining about faulty goods or a poor service, first complain to the trader and give them the chance to put it right; consumer protection rights lists advice lines you can use at no cost.

Limitations

• A generic template, not legal advice. For large or disputed claims, or if the other side has a lawyer, take advice.
• England and Wales only: Scotland and Northern Ireland have different procedures.
• Statutory interest uses one base rate for all invoices; when they start earning interest in different half-years, check each reference rate.
• Part-payments are taken off the oldest invoices as if they had been paid before interest started, so no interest or fixed sum is claimed on what they cleared; if a payment came later, the interest and fixed sum that time earned are left out, so the figure errs on the low side.
• The Financial Statement form of the Debt Claims protocol (Annex 2) is not reproduced: print it from the protocol and enclose it.

Privacy

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