You sent the invoice. They said "net 30." You waited. You chased. You waited more.
Six weeks later you are doing the awkward "just following up on my follow-up" email dance while your rent is due.
Sound familiar? It should not. This is entirely preventable.
Why "net 30" is a trap for freelancers
Net 30 is a corporate payment convention. It assumes you are a supplier with cash reserves, a credit line, and an accounts payable department on the other end.
You are a freelancer. You have none of those things.
What "net 30" actually means in practice:
- Day 1: Invoice sent
- Day 15: They have not looked at it
- Day 30: "Payment due" — nothing happens
- Day 35: You send a polite chase
- Day 42: "It is with finance, sorry"
- Day 50: Another chase. Slightly less polite
- Day 60: Money arrives (if you are lucky)
That is two months of cash you have already spent on the project sitting in someone else is bank account earning them interest.
The actual fix: change the terms before the project starts
Most freelancers treat payment terms as a client decision. They are not. You set them.
Here is what works:
1. Kill net 30. Use net 7 or net 14.
"I invoice on project completion with net 7 payment terms" is a complete sentence. You do not need to negotiate or explain.
Bigger clients might push back. Fine — agree net 14 max. Never net 30.
2. Require a deposit.
30-50% upfront is standard. It filters out bad-faith clients immediately and means you are never doing free work.
First-time client? 50% deposit minimum.
3. Put late payment terms in your contract.
The Late Payment of Commercial Debts Act 1998 entitles you to 8% above the Bank of England base rate on overdue invoices, plus fixed debt recovery costs. Most freelancers do not know this. Fewer have it in their contract.
Put it in the contract. State it clearly. You probably will not need to enforce it — but having it there changes how quickly clients prioritise your invoice.
4. Use proper invoice language, not polite suggestions.
"Please pay at your earliest convenience" = pay whenever.
"Payment due 14 days from invoice date. Statutory interest applies from day 15 per the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Act 1998" = clients pay on time.
When it is already overdue
Okay, you are past the deadline. Now what?
- Day 1 overdue: Short, factual reminder. No apology.
- Day 7 overdue: Firmer email. Mention statutory interest.
- Day 14 overdue: Phone call or final written demand.
- Day 30+ overdue: Small claims court (online, £35 fee, no lawyer needed up to £10k).
The key thing most freelancers get wrong: they apologise. "So sorry to bother you, just checking on..." — stop. You are owed money. You are not bothering them.
Tools that help
If you want templates for all of this — the contracts with late payment clauses, the invoice follow-up email sequence, the formal demand letter — I put it all together in the Getting Paid Toolkit.
It is £9. It pays for itself the first time a client pays within 14 days instead of 60.
There is also a Contract Template Pack if you need the underlying freelance contracts with all the payment clauses pre-written in plain English.
The uncomfortable truth
Late payments are not bad luck. They are the result of unclear terms, weak contracts, and emails that apologise for existing.
Fix the process. The money follows.
Built Landolio for UK freelancers. Tools, templates, and tax guides at landolio.com.
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