Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998

4Period for which statutory interest runs

(1)Statutory interest runs in relation to a qualifying debt in accordance with this section (unless section 5 applies).

(2)Statutory interest starts to run on the day after the relevant day for the debt, at the rate prevailing under section 6 at the end of the relevant day.

(3)Where the supplier and the purchaser agree a date for payment of the debt (that is, the day on which the debt is to be created by the contract), that is the relevant day unless the debt relates to an obligation to make an advance payment.

A date so agreed may be a fixed one or may depend on the happening of an event or the failure of an event to happen.

(4)Where the debt relates to an obligation to make an advance payment, the relevant day is the day on which the debt is treated by section 11 as having been created.

(5)In any other case, the relevant day is the last day of the period of 30 days beginning with—

(a)the day on which the obligation of the supplier to which the debt relates is performed; or

(b)the day on which the purchaser has notice of the amount of the debt or (where that amount is unascertained) the sum which the supplier claims is the amount of the debt,

whichever is the later.

(6)Where the debt is created by virtue of an obligation to pay a sum due in respect of a period of hire of goods, subsection (5)(a) has effect as if it referred to the last day of that period.

(7)Statutory interest ceases to run when the interest would cease to run if it were carried under an express contract term.

(8)In this section “advance payment” has the same meaning as in section 11.