Prompts · Writing & memos

Chase money someone owes me

The message to send today, and what to do when they ignore it.

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Someone hasn't paid me.

Invoice: Invoice 2026-041, £2,400, brand photography, due 8 August
How overdue: a month
What's happened so far: Sent a polite reminder three weeks ago. Their office manager replied saying it was in the next payment run. That run has been and gone.
Future with them: yes, they're a good client otherwise

Write the message I should send now. Put the amount, the invoice number and the original due date in the first line, so nobody has to go looking. Reference what they last told me and what didn't happen. No apologising for chasing.

Then give me the ladder: what I send next, how long I wait first, and how the tone changes each step, down to the last message before this stops being a conversation. Put actual dates on it, counting from today.

Tell me one thing plainly: at which step should I stop assuming this is an oversight. Match the tone to whether I want to keep them, but don't let that soften the first line.

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What you get: A message you can send now, then a dated chase schedule with the point where politeness stops helping.

Numbers in the first line

Unpaid invoices usually sit with someone who processes fifty of them a week. Burying the invoice number under a friendly opener means your email gets filed for later. Amount, number and due date up front makes it actionable in one glance.

The ladder matters because the hard part isn't this message, it's the fourth one. Getting the dates now means you don't have to find the nerve later.

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