Free unpaid invoice tracker (Excel) with automatic days overdue and escalation stages, plus a UK debt recovery roadmap: reminders, LBA and MCOL fees.
To recover an unpaid invoice in the UK, escalate in writing: reminder, firm reminder, final notice with statutory interest (8% over the Bank of England base rate plus £40 to £100 compensation), then a Letter Before Action, then a claim via Money Claims Online. MCOL issue fees run from £35 (claims up to £300) to £455 (up to £10,000), then 5% of the claim up to £100,000. This free pack gives you the tracker and the full roadmap.
What you get: a zip file with one Excel workbook (.xlsx, no macros) and one Word document (.docx). The form asks for your name and email address before the download starts; they are sent to Digital Adaption with the name of the file you asked for.
An Excel invoice register that calculates days overdue automatically against today's date, with an escalation stage dropdown so every debt has a named next action, plus a plain English roadmap that takes you from first reminder to a county court claim, with the current MCOL fees and realistic timescales.
Two files in one zip: the Excel invoice register with automatic days overdue and the escalation dropdown, plus the debt recovery roadmap as a Word document with the current MCOL fee table and timescales. Enter your details and the zip downloads immediately.
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Download the pack (zip)Escalation paralysis is the real reason most unpaid invoices drag on. You chase once, hear nothing, feel awkward, and three weeks vanish. The register fixes that by making the next action visible: every invoice shows its days overdue this morning and the stage you have reached, so Monday's job is simply "everything at Reminder 2 or beyond gets its next step today".
It also builds your evidence as a side effect. If a debt ever reaches court, the dated log of invoices, reminders and promises is exactly what a district judge wants to see. You are not preparing a case at the last minute, you have been keeping one all along.
If you want the chasing emails written for you with escalating tone, use my free Invoice Chaser alongside the tracker.
The fee depends on the amount you claim. The issue fees, last checked 8 October 2026: up to £300 costs £35, up to £500 costs £50, up to £1,000 costs £70, up to £1,500 costs £80, up to £3,000 costs £115, up to £5,000 costs £205, up to £10,000 costs £455, and claims from £10,000.01 to £100,000 cost 5% of the claim value. A separate hearing fee applies only if the claim is defended and reaches a hearing. You can normally add the court fee and the statutory interest to the amount claimed, so the debtor bears them if you win.
Rates last checked: 8 October 2026. Statutory interest is 8% over the Bank of England base rate (3.75% when checked); court fees as published at gov.uk on that date. Money Claims Online covers England and Wales; Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own court routes.
Escalate in stages and keep everything in writing: a polite reminder in the first week overdue, a firm reminder with a statement around day 14, a final notice adding statutory interest around day 21 to 28, then a Letter Before Action giving 7 to 14 days, and finally a county court claim through Money Claims Online. Most invoices get paid before court, and the paper trail you build is the evidence a court expects if you get that far.
A Letter Before Action (LBA) is a formal letter stating the amount owed, how it arises, the interest added, a clear deadline of 7 to 14 days and that you will start county court proceedings without further notice if it stays unpaid. It is the required step before filing a claim, and in practice a large share of stubborn debts settle at this stage. Where the debtor is a sole trader or another individual, the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims requires a Letter of Claim and 30 days to reply.
Filing online through Money Claims Online, the issue fee is £35 for claims up to £300, £50 up to £500, £70 up to £1,000, £80 up to £1,500, £115 up to £3,000, £205 up to £5,000, £455 up to £10,000, and 5% of the claim between £10,000.01 and £100,000. Fees last checked 8 October 2026. You can usually add the fee and statutory interest to the claim.
The defendant has 14 days from service to respond, or 28 days in total if they acknowledge the claim first. If they do not respond you can request judgment in default, often within 3 to 4 weeks of filing. If they defend, claims up to £10,000 normally go to the small claims track and a hearing is listed some months later depending on the court.
Yes. Business to business, the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 gives you statutory interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate plus fixed compensation of £40, £70 or £100 per invoice depending on the debt size, without needing a clause in your contract.
A free government service that handles late payment complaints from businesses with fewer than 50 staff against larger business customers. It can investigate, make recommendations and publish findings, and using it does not stop you going to court afterwards.
The fees, interest rules and court steps on this page were checked against the official sources below. The court route described is for England and Wales. Each link was opened and checked on 8 October 2026.
Digital Adaption also does paid data migration and reporting work for UK businesses; contact us if that would help.