You delivered. They went quiet. Speak to Kestrel.
A freelancer is a business in the eyes of the law, which is good news: your unpaid fee is a commercial debt carrying statutory interest at 8% above base rate plus fixed compensation. Ghosting is not a defence. The sequence is a clean file, one formal letter, then a small claim. Most clients pay when the letter arrives because they know how this ends.
Your contract does not need to be a signed document. The brief in an email, the agreed day rate in a message thread, the delivered files and the client's use of them together make the agreement and its performance. If they took the work, the fee is due.
Because both sides are businesses, the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act applies: statutory interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate and fixed compensation per invoice, whether or not your terms mention it.
Two practical levers matter for creatives and developers. First, if your terms say copyright transfers on payment, an unpaid client using the work is infringing, which sharpens the letter considerably. Second, scope-creep complaints raised only after the invoice landed carry little weight against a written brief and delivery.
Guide edition: August 2026. General information for England and Wales. Current law and your particular facts require assessment before action.
Export the email thread, the brief, the deliverables and the invoice. If the work is live on their site or feed, screenshot it dated.
A short note: invoice attached, now overdue, statutory interest accruing, reply by a date. Silence after this is a decision they have made.
The formal letter with the debt, interest, compensation, and where relevant the copyright position. This is where most freelancer debts get paid.
Issue online. Hearings are informal and short, and a default judgment follows if they do not respond.
Tell Kestrel what happened. The AI legal assistant gathers the facts and prepares a summary for you to check. Request lawyer review from your Legal Centre.
Speak to Kestrel nowSix years from the invoice falling due. If the client is using work your terms say they have not yet paid for, the copyright point is live now, not in six years.
This guide concerns Money & debt recovery. It forms part of our reference library. Kestrel is preparing for SRA authorisation. See practice details for the proposed service and current availability.
A complaint invented at invoice time is weak. If they accepted the work, used it or stayed silent through delivery, the fee is generally due, and any genuine quality issue is a matter of price adjustment, not non-payment.
Nearly all freelance work is done without a signed contract. The email thread is the contract. What matters is showing the agreement, the rate and the delivery.
If your terms keep copyright with you until payment, yes, and it is often the fastest route to a bank transfer. If your terms are silent, ownership is more nuanced, so take a view before making the threat.
The letter stage costs less than the fee in most cases and settles the majority. It also trains your client list: freelancers who follow through get paid on time next time.
Start with the AI legal assistant, then follow the case, messages and lawyer review in your Legal Centre.
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