UK late payment: check a customer's own payment record
Large UK companies have to publish how long they actually take to pay small suppliers twice a year on the government’s Payment Practices Reporting service, so you can check a specific customer’s own record before you rely on them. A named customer’s own payment record tells you more about your risk than any UK-wide average. gov.uk Payment Practices Reporting
| Signal | Figure | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Named company payment record | Check by company on Payment Practices Reporting | Concentrated late payment from one large customer spreads risk through a supply chain |
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Late payment is one of the most common reasons a solvent company runs short of cash. If customers pay you late, you have a legal right to claim interest and compensation on business debts, and chasing early protects your own cash flow.
General information, not advice about your company.
Methodology and source
Large UK companies must report their own payment practices twice a year under a mandatory government scheme, and that service lets you check exactly how a named company pays before you extend it credit, rather than relying on a UK-wide average. Late payment is an upstream cause of the cash flow problems that lead to insolvency, especially in construction and other long-supply-chain sectors.
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