Guide · Unpaid work

You did the gig. You did the job.
Where’s the money?

A band unpaid after the gig. A plumber ghosted after the job. A cake, delivered, eaten and never paid for. This is a debt, the agreement (even a text thread) is your contract, and the route to your money is short and well-trodden.

1.Your agreement is a contract, whatever it looks like

No signed paperwork? Doesn't matter. An exchange of messages agreeing the work and the price is a contract. Doing the work is your side performed; paying is theirs, overdue.

2.If they're a business: interest and compensation pile on

Owed by a private individual instead? Those extras don't apply, but the debt is just as real, and a court can add interest when a claim is issued:

Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 · s.1 · Statutory interest.

"It is an implied term in a contract to which this Act applies that any qualifying debt created by the contract carries simple interest subject to and in accordance with this Part. (2)Interest carried under that implied term (in this Act referred to as “statutory interest”) shall be treated, for the"…

In plain English: When both sides were acting in the course of business (a venue, a shop, an agency), the debt automatically grows: statutory interest plus a fixed recovery sum.

§ Read the full text on legislation.gov.uk →

3.The court route is smaller than you fear

Money Claim Online handles claims up to £10,000 in England and Wales, built to be used without a solicitor, with modest fees that get added to what the debtor owes.

County Courts Act 1984 · s.69 · Power to award interest on debts and damages.

"before the county court for the recovery of a debt or damages there may be included in any sum for which judgment is given simple interest, at such rate as the court thinks fit or as may be prescribed, on all or any part of the debt or damages in respect of which judgment is given, or payment is ma"…

In plain English: If you take someone to court to recover money they owe you, the judge has the power to add interest to that amount. This ensures you are compensated for the time you were kept waiting for your money.

§ Read the full text on legislation.gov.uk →

4.What to do

Assemble the thread: the messages agreeing price and date, the proof the work happened.
One formal demand in writing, with the exact sum and a deadline: 14 days for a business, 30 for an individual.
Don't discount out of exhaustion. The extras exist precisely to make delay cost them, not you.
Deadline passes? File the claim. Most pay when the court papers arrive.

Want to know where you stand?

Tell us what happened in your own words. We check it against the law above, free, and give you a straight answer either way. If the law is on your side, your formal demand for payment is £2.99.

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