As a freelancer, late payment can seriously affect your cashflow and wellbeing, but it can often feel difficult to approach late-paying clients due to concerns around potentially damaging the relationship. This is why we have crafted three late payment template letters.
After sending the gentle reminder letter, use this two weeks later to chase a client who is still late to make payment. This letter recognises and correctly implements your rights as a freelancer when it comes to late payment.
A final demand letter can also be found in the IPSE Library and is available to IPSE members.
Not only is late pay affecting freelancers’ businesses and their living costs but it is also taking up valuable time, with an average of 20 days a year spent chasing unpaid invoices.
It's vital that as a freelancer you know your rights so that you can have the right payment terms in place and confidently put them into effect if needed. These late payment letter templates already include the correct terminology to help with this.
The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 allows you to claim costs outlined in your invoice alongside any compensation. Even if this was not stated in your payment conditions, you could get compensation against public sector organisations and businesses with more than 50 employees. You can now also claim up to eight per cent interest on payments from other small businesses, starting from the day after the last day it should have been paid.
Late payments are hugely damaging for freelancers at the best of times, but during the pandemic, they have been disastrous for many. We are working with the Small Business Commissioner to crack down on late and non-payment once and for all.
IPSE hosts an extensive range of webinars throughout the year. IPSE members can register for upcoming webinars or access previous webinars that have been recorded to enhance your learning, even if you were unable to make the webinar at the time.
We want to end the culture of late payment: We need to stop freelancers losing large amounts of time and money each year to the UK’s poor payment culture by giving the Small Business Commissioner powers to fine and ‘name and shame’ late payers.
