What should I do when a customer ignores my invoice reminders completely?

Change one variable at a time rather than sending the same email again. First the recipient — get to whoever actually processes payments. Then the channel — phone or post, not another email into the same inbox. Then the content — one specific request with a date and a consequence you will carry out. If all three have been tried and nothing has come back, you are no longer collecting, you are deciding whether to escalate formally or write it off.

When should I stop chasing and escalate?

When the cost of your next attempt exceeds what it is likely to recover. That depends on the amount, not on a fixed number of days: a small invoice can reach that point at sixty days, while a large one is worth pursuing for a year. The useful discipline is to decide the threshold before you are annoyed, and to write down what you will do when it is crossed.

30 days overdue invoice letter — firm payment request template

A month late with no reply is a decision, even if nobody has said so. This email asks the customer to tell you which decision it is.

30 days overdue
Firm tone
They have gone quiet

The email

Subject

Invoice [Invoice number] — 30 days overdue

Body

Hi [Customer name],

Invoice [Invoice number] for [Amount] was due on [Due date]. It is now thirty days overdue and I have had no reply to [Number] reminders.

I need one of two things from you by [Date]:

- payment in full, or
- a written schedule of when it will be paid.

If neither reaches me by then, I will [Consequence] — I would much rather not, and either of the above avoids it.

If something is wrong with the invoice or the work, this is the right moment to tell me. I can resolve a problem. I cannot resolve silence.

Regards,
[Your name]
[Your business]

Fill in before you send

[Customer name]
[Invoice number]
[Amount]
[Due date]
[Number]
[Date]
[Consequence]
[Your name]
[Your business]

When to send this

At a month, when several reminders have gone unanswered and you have decided what you are prepared to do next.
When you can name a real consequence: pausing work, withholding files or deliveries, putting the account on hold, or passing it to a solicitor or collections agency.
When you would rather have a difficult answer than another month of nothing.

When not to send this

The wrong reminder at the wrong moment costs more than no reminder at all.

With a consequence you are not willing to carry out.: Instead: Name a smaller one you will actually do. Pausing new work is a real consequence and is entirely within your control; 'legal action' from someone who will never instruct a solicitor is noticed as bluff, and it makes your final notice worthless.
Before checking whether pausing work or withholding deliverables is allowed under your contract.: Instead: Read the agreement first. Announcing a suspension your contract does not permit can put you in breach and hand the customer a counterclaim worth more than the invoice.
To a customer who has been replying and negotiating in good faith.: Instead: Use the payment plan email. Turning a live negotiation into an ultimatum at thirty days frequently ends the negotiation, and a plan being honoured is a far better outcome than a deadline being defended.

Not certain this is the reply you got?

This template assumes they have gone quiet. Replies rarely say so in those words, and picking the wrong one is how a dispute gets chased or a kept promise gets nagged. Paste what they actually sent and the decoder will tell you which situation it is — and therefore which email belongs here.

Decode the reply you were sent

Notes on this one

Two options rather than one is the structure that gets replies. 'Pay now' can only be complied with or ignored. 'Pay, or tell me when you will' gives a customer who genuinely cannot pay today a way to engage without admitting defeat, and an engaged debtor pays considerably more often than a cornered one.

The last two lines are not softening. They are the most practical sentences in the email: a month of silence is very often an unraised dispute, and this is your last cheap opportunity to find that out before positions harden.

Questions this comes with

What should I do when a customer ignores my invoice reminders completely?: Change one variable at a time rather than sending the same email again. First the recipient — get to whoever actually processes payments. Then the channel — phone or post, not another email into the same inbox. Then the content — one specific request with a date and a consequence you will carry out. If all three have been tried and nothing has come back, you are no longer collecting, you are deciding whether to escalate formally or write it off.
When should I stop chasing and escalate?: When the cost of your next attempt exceeds what it is likely to recover. That depends on the amount, not on a fixed number of days: a small invoice can reach that point at sixty days, while a large one is worth pursuing for a year. The useful discipline is to decide the threshold before you are annoyed, and to write down what you will do when it is crossed.

All 19 reminder templates

Collectly does this across every invoice, on its own

You just picked the email to send on one invoice. Collectly does the same thing continuously for every unpaid invoice you have — reads the replies, works out why each one is unpaid, estimates when it will land, and drafts the follow-up for you to approve.

With 15 rules it cannot talk its way around

A paid or written-off invoice is never chased again. Follow-ups are switched off permanently, not deferred.
A disputed invoice stops automated chasing entirely and goes to a person to resolve.
A promise to pay on a date pauses reminders until that date has passed. Collectly checks back the day after, not on the day.
At least three days between reminders on the same invoice, so re-running the analysis cannot turn into nagging. A resent or corrected invoice the customer has just asked for is not a reminder, and still waits for your approval.

Try it on your invoices See how it works

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