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How to write a letter of demand for an unpaid payment claim
A letter of demand on your letterhead, drafted from the late claim, with the amount, the dates, your contract clause and the Act section filled in.
When the chase emails have not worked, the next step is a formal letter of demand. Writing one means digging out the claim, the schedule, the due date and the contract clause, then getting the amount right.
- By hand
- 1 h 45 min
- In Excel
- 1 h 25 min
- In YourCA
- 3 min
- Saved
- 1 h 42 min
Estimate for a 6-month electrical job with 10 people on it, each letter of demand. Set your own job.
The risk it heads off
- The letter demands the wrong amount, so the builder disputes it.Takes the amount from the claim, the schedule and the payments recorded against it.
- The letter cites the wrong section, or none.Names the debt section for the job’s state where it is held, and leaves it out rather than guess.
Step by step
| Step | By hand | Excel | YourCA | What YourCA does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Work out what you can demand | 30 min | 20 min | 0 min | Takes the whole claim if no payment schedule came back, or what their schedule agreed, less what they paid. |
| Find the dates and the clauses | 30 min | 20 min | 0 min | Fills in the day you served the claim, the due date, your payment clause and the Act section. |
| Write the letter | 45 min | 45 min | 3 min | Drafts it on your letterhead, ready to sign. You send it from your own mail. |
| Total, each letter of demand | 105 min | 85 min | 3 min |
How to do it in YourCA
Questions subbies ask
- Does YourCA send the letter?
- No. You download it or open it in your own mail, check every line, sign it and send it yourself.
- Does it ask for the amount their schedule cut?
- No. Where their payment schedule agreed an amount, the letter asks for that amount less what they paid. The cut is for adjudication.
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