Let your cash flow.
Unpaid Invoice Debt Collection Service
An unpaid invoice shouldn't cost you more time than the sale did. Hand it over and we chase it, claim the interest and compensation the law allows, and send you what we recover by BACS every week. You pay 10% of what we recover and nothing if we don't.
STA recovers your debts effortlessly to give you:
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Invoice collection
Unpaid invoice recovery without the chasing.
We’re proud to be a leading invoice collection agency in the UK, operating on a no collection, no commission basis to help you recover unpaid invoices quickly and easily.
For small business owners and large companies alike, management of unpaid invoices is a tedious and time-consuming task, and often doesn’t yield results. Keeping track of outstanding balances, thinking about payment terms, and having to communicate with each debtor individually can become an impossible task – quickly.
Whether you only have a couple or lots of outstanding invoices, it makes sense to consider the help of a professional to manage this process for you. Invoice collection companies like STA International can save you time, money and effort – with a much higher success rate than doing it yourself. We understand the importance of unpaid invoice recovery to businesses of all sizes, which is why we always put your needs first by prioritising efficiency, preserving customer relationships and offering weekly BACS remittances to restore your cash flow as quickly as possible.
Since 1955 we have been perfecting our unpaid invoice collection service. “No collection, no commission” means our services can be completely cost-neutral to you in many cases, and on average we recover unpaid invoices in just 3-4 weeks; so there’s no reason not to get in touch today.
Before you hand it over
Before you hand it over: 3 things to try.
A little persistence can settle an invoice without a collector. If these don't work, you have lost nothing by trying.
Send a final reminder
Write to the person who approved the invoice, with the invoice, the amount, the due date and a clear final date for payment.
Call the accounts payable team
Ask when the invoice will be paid and whether anything is holding it up. A missing purchase order or an invoice that was never received is often the whole problem.
Send a letter citing late payment interest
Remind them that late payment interest and fixed compensation can be claimed under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998: 8% over the base rate, plus £40, £70 or £100.
Still unpaid after 30 days overdue? That's when we're most effective.
Get a quoteThe process
How our Invoice Debt Collection Works
Commercial debt collection is a highly individualised process that changes from case to case. That’s why we always put in the work to understand your circumstances before creating an invoice debt recovery that’s designed to have the best chance of success for you, using experience built since 1955 to achieve results that everyone will be happy with.
Place your debts & debtor checks
The first step is to submit your debts to our ‘Your Debts Online’ (YDO) portal, which we developed to streamline our invoice collection service as much as possible. There’s options to submit your outstanding invoices through a form, or to upload in bulk via CSV or Excel. Our experienced team gets to work – firstly doing checks of your debtors to assess their financial strength, and then creating a collaborative approach (never combative or confrontational) to maximise unpaid invoice recovery rate.
Professional contact strategy
The most important part of the entire process is contacting your debtors. Handled by our dedicated, highly trained team of collectors, we reach out and remind them of their payment obligations. We work in your best interest to collect the owed amount in full, as well as statutory interest and Late Payment Act charges on top. Where there are excuses given for non-payment, we’re very adept at stopping or querying these at this stage.
30 day review and next step advice
Your dedicated collector will continue to negotiate and communicate with your debtors, updating the YDO portal along the way, meaning you can keep track of all progress and any notes associated with your case. We’ll only revert to your instruction if absolutely necessary; otherwise handling all queries and concerns ourselves. If your invoice debt collection case remains initially unresolved, we’ll activate a 30-day review with you. This means there can be a discussion about the best way forward, including the possibility of escalating to our legal debt recovery routes.
Weekly funds remittance
Where we are able to recover the amount past due, you will have your funds remitted to you via BACS on a weekly basis. On average, we’re proud to be able to secure payment in 3-4 weeks. Every case is different, so unpaid invoice recovery time can be longer or shorter depending on your situation. You’ll also have full access to your personal portal, where you can track exactly what funds have been remitted and when, as well as download the statements, invoices and other reports relevant to your case.
Legal escalation
In some cases, it might not be possible to recover unpaid invoices using a pre-legal approach. However, we are still well equipped to help; STA Legal (opens in a new tab), our sister firm of solicitors, can seamlessly take over the case and escalate it appropriately. They’ll take care of any further actions – from issuing a Letter Before Action (LBA), filing court claims, securing County Court Judgements and even supporting recovery enforcement.
Get paid today, contact STA
Get in touch today to see how we can help recover your overdue invoices
Results
Proven Invoice Recovery Success
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a small business with only one single overdue invoice or a large corporation with lots of clients not paying invoices; we approach every case with the same diligence and attention to detail. We’ve recovered £20m over the last 12 months for businesses of all sizes, from SMEs to FTSE100 companies. Our experience with small business debt collection and much larger B2B debt collection cases means you can trust us to end up with the best outcome for you.
What our clients say
“We only had one case available and STA treated this with a level of service I would expect if I was a major customer. I would recommend their services whatever value of debt you are dealing with.”
Lisa Wheal — “I would recommend their services”
“I have used the services of STA International for a number of outstanding accounts and they have always collected the payments. Their approach is very professional and they keep you informed throughout the process. If there are any problems they liaise with you and negotiate with the debtor on your behalf. A first rate service that I would recommend to anyone.”
David — “First rate professional service”
“I have found STA extremely professional and supportive in supporting us with our business needs. They have easy to communicate features via their portal and their collection rates are great. Whilst debt collection is never a nice thing to have to address, they make this as stress free of a process as possible.”
Aaron R — “Professional and supportive”
“This is our first experience of using a debt recovery agency. We were pleasantly surprised by how simple and effective STA made the whole process, saving an enormous amount of time and energy for our Finance Manager to redirect to more productive activities. Thank you.”
Tom R — “Simple and effective”
Your Debts Online
24/7 Online Portal
Regardless of the amount of overdue invoices you need help with, you’ll have 24/7 access to our YDO online portal for convenient and transparent access to progress, reports and more. You can also use it to respond to requests for instruction, view case notes from your collector and dedicated point of contact, and easily place additional debts to help us streamline our unpaid invoice debt collection process and secure outstanding payments as quickly as possible.
See our Your Debts Online User Guide for more informationaccess to your cases, reports and statements.
Companies owe money, but people pay bills.
We take a lot of pride in being an invoice collection agency with a different strategy; unlike many others, we lead with a co-operative and nonconfrontational attitude to recovering debts. We’ve proven that unlike very aggressive approaches to unpaid invoice collection, gentle education of debtors can provide a whole host of benefits to everyone involved. Collaboration results in a higher rate of recovery, preservation of customer goodwill and a higher likelihood of timely payment in the future.
No Collection, No Commission
Pricing & member benefits
Unpaid invoice collection services don’t have to be expensive. Our ‘no collection, no commission’ structure means that in many cases, it can be completely cost-neutral for your business – read below for more details. We automatically add our commission charge to your debtor’s invoice(s), along with interest. When your debtor pays the costs and interest, we remit it in full and invoice you for our commission, leaving you with your principal sum and the interest. Conversely, if your debtor fails to pay the costs and interest, we invoice you for our commission.
- For multiple debts, and single debts over £50,000, a lower rate of commission applies.
- Minimum case value is £500 for a single debt. Lower values are accepted when placed in bulk.
- We add statutory interest (8% over the base rate) and fixed compensation of £40, £70 or £100 to your debtor’s balance.
Our commission
Of sums recovered. No collection, no commission.
Get startedLegal action is charged separately and agreed in writing first.
Overseas agents (only with your consent): typically 20–25%.
For UK business debts, our commission and late payment interest can usually be claimed from the debtor.
Unlock Better Rates
Member benefits
We are proud to partner a growing number of credit insurance underwriters who have appointed STA to offer their policyholders worldwide debt collection services.
Learn moreCheck to see if you’re eligible to our preferential rates of commission.
Get paid today, contact STA
Get in touch today to see how we can help recover your overdue invoices
Unpaid Invoice Debt Recovery FAQs
If you still have questions about how debt collection for unpaid invoices works, or want to know more about how we can help you, read on for answers to some of the most frequently asked questions we get.
What does "No Collection, No Commission" mean?
If we don't recover anything, you pay nothing. No placement fees, no upfront costs, no hourly billing: our commission is a percentage of what we bring in, so our incentive matches yours from day one. If you decide to take a case to court, STA Legal agrees its costs with you in writing before anything is issued.
What if the debtor is overseas?
We recover from debtors worldwide, and over the last year we collected in 154 countries. Most international cases are handled from our UK office and settle without proceedings, which matters, because litigating abroad often costs more than the debt. Commission is 15%. If a case needs to transfer to a local agent, the rate increases, but only with your approval.
Is there a minimum debt value?
There's no minimum spend or contract term. The online quote takes claims from £500; for smaller debts, call us and we'll tell you straight whether recovery makes sense. A single unpaid invoice is worth placing: you only pay commission if we recover, and on UK business debts statutory interest and compensation are added to the debtor's balance, which often covers our fee. Several small debts can be placed together.
Can I claim interest on a late invoice?
Yes, if you and your customer are both businesses. Under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 you can claim interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate (11.75% on debts that fall overdue from 1 July to 31 December 2026), plus fixed compensation of £40, £70 or £100 depending on the size of the invoice, unless your contract sets its own substantial remedy. We add both to the debtor's balance when we chase. Work out the figure with our late payment interest calculator, or get a quote to see the interest, our fee and what you'd receive.
What do the terms 'FCA authorised | ISO 27001 & 9001 | CSA & ECA members' mean?
These terms show we’re independently regulated and accredited by multiple industry standard bodies:
FCA authorised – we follow strict rules on fairness and transparency. (Proof of FCA authorisation (opens in a new tab))
ISO 27001 & 9001 – we’re certified in international standards for data security and quality management. (Proof of ISO 27001 & 9001 certification (opens in a new tab))
CSA – we’re a member of the Credit Services Association, the sole UK national trade body for debt collection. (Proof of CSA membership since 1995 (opens in a new tab))
ECA – we’re the only UK member of the European Collectors Association (Proof of ECA membership (opens in a new tab)). Last year we collected in 154 countries.
How long does recovery take?
Three to four weeks on average. Every case is different, so yours may be quicker or take longer.
How long should I wait before using a debt collector?
Not long. Recovery odds fall sharply after 90 days, so the sooner a debt is placed the better, and we are most effective when an invoice is around 30 days overdue. If a final reminder, a call to accounts payable and a letter citing late payment interest have not worked, place it with us.
Ready to Recover Your Unpaid Invoices?
If you need support recovering your debts in a way that minimises your stress and lets you get on with the important things, choose an unpaid invoice collection agency who will help you do just that. Get a hassle-free online quote or get in touch with our friendly professionals who’ll be more than happy to help.