What to do when a customer won't pay: a UK builder's guide

First, you are not the exception

Being owed money is not a sign you did anything wrong. In our survey of 200 UK contractors, 172 of them deal with payment disputes (the full findings are here). The fight over getting paid is baked into how renovation money currently moves. Two in three sort it out by hand, one conversation at a time, which is hours of unpaid admin on top of the job. Here is a cleaner route.

Step 1. Send a clear, dated reminder

Keep it professional and firm. Restate what was agreed, the work you completed, the invoice number and the original due date. Set a new, specific deadline, seven days is standard. A calm written record here matters, because everything that follows builds on it.

Step 2. Know your legal position

If your client is a business, the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 lets you charge statutory interest of 8% plus the Bank of England base rate, along with a fixed sum for recovery costs. You can work out the figure with the the government's guidance on late commercial payments. One important distinction: that Act covers business-to-business work. If your client is a homeowner (a consumer), it does not apply, but you can still claim interest through your contract terms or the court. Either way, being owed for completed work to a reasonable standard is a debt, and it is recoverable.

Step 3. Send a letter before action

This is the formal final warning before court. State the amount owed, what it is for, any interest you are adding, and a clear deadline (14 days is typical). Say plainly that you will start a court claim if it is not paid. For many clients this letter alone does the job, because it signals you are serious and organised.

Step 4. Make a small claims court claim

In England and Wales you can make a court claim for money online. Debts up to £10,000 are handled on the small claims track, which is designed to be used without a solicitor. The court fee scales with the amount and is added to what the client owes if you win. In practice, a large share of claims settle once the papers land, because the client can no longer ignore it.

The real fix: stop the dispute before it starts

Here is what the survey data really shows. The single biggest trigger for disputes is not slow payers, it is unforeseen cost and scope change. So the fix starts long before the invoice. Agree the scope and the money up front. Handle every change in writing, and price it, before you do the work, which we cover in handling variations. And move off 30-day invoicing towards staged payments tied to completed work, so you are never floating the whole job.

The surest version of this is to secure the money before you start. With Renno, the client funds the project into a protected account up front, and each stage is released the moment it is done and approved. No chasing, no letter before action, no small claims. For the paperwork that backs it up, see the seven agreements that protect your cash flow.

Related reading: The safest way to pay a builder · Builder won’t finish the job?.