When a contractor invoice is unpaid TWO YEARS later, move on

For any contractor who is still chasing an unpaid invoice after TWO YEARS, I must be the bearer of bad news because to be blunt, if your client was going to pay THEY WOULD ALREADY HAVE PAID BY NOW, writes Adam Home, managing director of Safe Collections, a UK and internal debt collection specialists.

What an unpaid invoice after two years means, in the real world…

Keep in mind the following truisms if your contractor invoice is unpaid after an extremely long period, like 24 months, as is the case for this poor LinkedIn user, according to her post.

• This isn’t a mistake.
• This isn’t an oversight or ‘issue with the accounts payable team.’
• The dog didn’t eat their cheque book.
• The invoice hasn’t been ‘deleted by accident.’  

We say these latter two, even three, knowing that to be a whole list of notorious excuses not to pay invoices.

A longtime errant debtor? It’s a question of choice

No, if you’re still unpaid after two years and have tried to raise the matter, the decision not to release funds for services you rendered is a deliberate choice.

In other words, your client is choosing not to pay your invoice. They are choosing to ignore your polite and persistent reminders. They are choosing to devalue your previous work and waste more of your time (and money).

To provide some hopefully relatable context of just how long ago the OP’s old, but still-unsettled invoice was originally due for payment, i.e. when the invoice ‘due date’ was, it was back when ‘Barbenheimer’ was a thing! That's July 2023!

Unpaid after two years? You will very (very) likely NEVER be paid

So, the sad truth is that if this payment hasn’t voluntarily been made by now, some two years down the line, it very, very likely never will be.

And I say this as an extremely dogged pursuer of invoices submitted by contractors that go outstanding!

Therefore, sat staring at a two-year-old unpaid invoice, don’t waste any more of your time. Call off chasing a client who clearly does not value either you or your professional expertise.

Recommend debt collection courses of action – to the OP anyway

But is there ANYTHING you can do, other than move on?

Some of the OP’s online connections suggest that there are courses of action to take when unpaid after years.

Bill Wolf suggests appointing a debt collection agency (like us).

Indeed, for undisputed B2B debts, a Debt Collection Agency (DCA) can be a good choice.

Although we would say that, wouldn’t we!

Benefits of a debt collection agency

The pros to using a DCA are that it can be a quicker route to collection if the debt is paid amicably.

And many DCAs will use the UK late payment legislation to levy fixed costs, late payment interest and collection charges to the balance of what is owed.

Therefore, a debt collection company should be able to recover its fees along with your invoice value.

Disadvantages of debt collection agencies…

The cons to using a DCA are that engaging the ‘wrong’ agency can be a headache all of its own.

Why? Well, the less reputable agencies are known for rip-off admin fees and generally disreputable behaviour.

So, if you’ve got an undisputed B2B debt that’s not as far as two years past your invoice due date, care should be taken to pick a money collection agency with a long trading history and verifiable industry experience.

Our specialism is collecting overdue fees and unpaid debts for out-of-pocket consultants and contractors, but you can shop around for whatever special focus you’d like your debt collection company to have. Again, though, ‘Buyer beware.’

Letter Before Action: the advantages

Online, other respondents to the OP, like Gaynor Brown, suggest opting for a ‘Solicitor’s Letter,’ also known as a Letter Before Action (LBA).

The advantage of LBA is you can easily obtain one from a firm of solicitors. It’s a precursor to legal action.

Similar to hiring a DCA, this is usually a sensible option.

How much is a Letter Before Action?

Why ‘sensible?’ Well, the formal letter of demand from a law firm is, by itself, often enough to secure payment of the balance owed.

Positively, at a time when you’re already out-of-pocket, the cost of an LBA can be as little as just £5 -- for uncomplicated matters.

If payment is not made on receipt of the letter from the solicitor, you can then look at the final option as suggested to the OP by Marina Hauer, among others.

Small Claims Court -- when you’re unpaid for a sum sub-£10,000 in value

The ‘last resort’ is the issue of legal proceedings in the County Court, colloquially called the “Small Claims” Court. It handles claims under £10,000 in value.

County Court action is generally the last step in pursuing an overdue payment.

But for uncomplicated matters relating to unpaid invoices, acting as a litigant in-person makes this a cost-effective option as the court fee itself is usually around 5% of the value of the debt (including any late payment penalties now added to the claim).

With CCJs, there’s no guarantee…

But be warned, securing a CCJ (County Court Judgement) is not a guarantee you will receive payment, and in some cases, you may need to take further steps to collect the CCJ if the debtor ignores the court.

After not being paid on time, and then two years of not being paid at all, it’s extremely likely you’ll get the ‘ignore’ treatment.

How much to appoint High Court Enforcement Officers?

Then, as Rachel Circuit points out, you may need to engage a firm of High Court Enforcement Officers to try and enforce the judgment. Be aware, such an action carries additional costs of around £160.

Therefore, ideally, you need to check if your debtor is solvent before you issue any kind of legal action.

‘Name and Shame’ a late payer? Not something we’d recommend

Finally, there are several people urging the OP to ‘name and shame’ the client in question; the client who should have forked out in 2023 but now it’s 2025.

While ‘naming and shaming’ would no doubt be a satisfying option, it is not something we would recommend.

At absolute best, you are handing your errant client definitive grounds to absolutely never pay you -- on the basis of the imaginary damages the client will feel they are now owed, and at worst, you may find yourself threatened with a libel suit.

A £70,000 legal action to sue her for defamation is exactly what was received by freelance translator Leslie Kemp, after she outed her client over a £146 invoice back in 2013.

Ultimately, that suit was dropped, but we suspect Leslie had a very stressful few months all down to an ill-judged tweet. It’s for this reason that we never recommend ‘naming and shaming’ as a debt collection tool.

TLDR: If your invoice's due date was TWO YEARS ago…

In short, life is short. And there are a myriad of ways that contractors with very old invoices -- like invoices which were due for payment TWO YEARS ago -- would be better spending their time than continuing to flog a dead horse.