Hound

Templates · England and Wales

Four emails, for the four moments that matter

Most chasing fails for one reason: every message sounds like the last one. These four are different from each other on purpose, and the third is the one almost nobody sends.

Curly braces are yours to replace. These are shaped on the messages Hound itself sends, not written separately for this page — if the templates here were better than the ones the product uses, one of the two would be wrong.

Day 3 to 7 overdue

The first reminder

Assume an oversight, because usually it is. The job here is to be impossible to misread, not to apply pressure. Nothing in it should sound like a system: a debtor who thinks they are being processed stops reading.

Subject Invoice INV-1041 — £4,800.00, due {date}

Hello {name},

Invoice INV-1041 for £4,800.00 was due on {date} and is showing as unpaid.

I have attached a copy in case it did not reach you. If it is already scheduled, just let me know the date and I will leave it with you.

Thanks,
{your name}

Day 10 to 14

The statement, with the position stated

The first message that says what happens next. Note what it does not do: it does not threaten, it does not repeat the first email, and it names the Act rather than gesturing at 'further action'. A specific consequence is more persuasive than a vague one because it is obviously true.

Subject Overdue: invoice INV-1041, £4,800.00

Hello {name},

Invoice INV-1041 for £4,800.00 is now {days} days past its due date of {date}.

Please can you either pay it by {deadline}, or reply with the date it will be paid.

If it remains unpaid after that date I will add statutory interest and the fixed compensation sum, which a late commercial invoice carries under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.

Thanks,
{your name}

The day after a promise is missed

The broken promise

The one almost nobody sends, and the one that matters most. A missed promise is not the same event as a missed due date: they have now told you something that turned out not to be true. Saying so plainly, without anger, is what stops the next promise being just as cheap. Send it the day after, not a week later.

Subject Payment was due {promised date} — invoice INV-1041

Hello {name},

On {promise date} you said invoice INV-1041 would be paid on {promised date}. It has not arrived and I have not heard from you.

I would rather sort this out with you than escalate it, so: is there a problem with the invoice, or is this a cash-flow issue with a date attached to it? Either is workable if you tell me.

If I do not hear back by {deadline} I will assume neither and proceed on that basis.

{your name}

Day 30 to 35

Before it leaves your hands

The last one you send yourself. It states the full sum including what the Act adds, gives a final date, and says exactly what follows. Every number in it should be one you can evidence, because the next reader might be a judge.

Subject Final reminder before escalation — £4,924.08 outstanding

Hello {name},

Invoice INV-1041, £4,800.00, is now {days} days overdue.

Principal outstanding: £4,800.00
Statutory interest to date: £54.08
Statutory compensation: £70.00
Total now payable: £4,924.08

Interest and compensation are claimed under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 and continue to accrue daily.

Please pay £4,924.08 by {deadline}, or reply with the date payment will be made. If the account is still unpaid after that date I will refer it for a formal letter before action.

{your name}

Before you send any of them