# Statutory interest on late payments (4 figures)

> The median published figure in the Statutory Late Payment Rate Series is 7.88 percent across 4 sources' own pages (range 3.75 to 8 percent), read 17 October 2026.

Late Payment Interest · https://latepaymentinterest.co.uk/datasets/statutory-late-payment-rate-series/ · computed 2026-10-21

**Median published figure:** 7.88 % (range 3.75 to 8 %; 4 published figures; 4 of 19 sources read publish one).

4 of the 19 named sources read in full publish a figure; 15 publish none, read 17 October 2026.

The median is down 0.12 percent since 26 September 2026 (was 8 percent across 3).

## By period

| Breakdown | Median | Range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| period 1 July 2026 to 31 December 2026 (Bank Rate in force on 30 June 2026) | 3.75 % | 3.75 to 3.75 % | 1 |

## Every figure, with its source

One row per source: the figure the source's own page publishes, the page, and the day it was read.

| Source | Figure | Breakdown | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| [GOV.UK - charging interest on a commercial debt](https://www.gov.uk/late-commercial-payments-interest-debt-recovery/charging-interest-commercial-debt) | 8 % |  | 2026-10-17 |
| [Small Business Commissioner - interest calculator](https://www.smallbusinesscommissioner.gov.uk/help-and-guidance/interest-calculator/) | 8 % |  | 2026-10-17 |
| [HMRC interest rates for late and early payments](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-hmrc-interest-rates-for-late-and-early-payments/rates-and-allowances-hmrc-interest-rates) | 7.75 % |  | 2026-10-17 |
| [Bank of England - the interest rate (Bank Rate)](https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/the-interest-rate-bank-rate) | 3.75 % | 1 July 2026 to 31 December 2026 (Bank Rate in force on 30 June 2026) | 2026-10-16 |

## The sentence each figure was read from (4)

- [GOV.UK - charging interest on a commercial debt](https://www.gov.uk/late-commercial-payments-interest-debt-recovery/charging-interest-commercial-debt), read 2026-10-17: "The interest you can charge if another business is late paying for goods or a service is ‘statutory interest’ - this is 8% plus the Bank of England base rate for business to business transactions."
- [Small Business Commissioner - interest calculator](https://www.smallbusinesscommissioner.gov.uk/help-and-guidance/interest-calculator/), read 2026-10-17: "The interest you can charge if another business is late paying for goods or a service is ‘statutory interest’ – this is 8% plus the Bank of England base rate for business-to-business transactions."
- [HMRC interest rates for late and early payments](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-hmrc-interest-rates-for-late-and-early-payments/rates-and-allowances-hmrc-interest-rates), read 2026-10-17: "late payment interest rate — 7.75% from 9 January 2026"
- [Bank of England - the interest rate (Bank Rate)](https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/the-interest-rate-bank-rate), read 2026-10-16: "Bank Rate maintained at 3.75% - June 2026..."

## Read in full, publishes no figure

- [GOV.UK - late commercial payments: charging interest and debt recovery](https://www.gov.uk/late-commercial-payments-interest-debt-recovery), read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 - contents](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/20/contents), read 2026-09-11: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, section 6 (rate of interest)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/20/section/6), read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, section 2 (qualifying debts)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/20/section/2), read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Rate of Interest) (No. 2) Order 1998](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/2765/made), read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Rate of Interest) (No. 3) Order 2002](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/1675/made), read 2026-09-11: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [Bank of England - Bank Rate history and data](https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/boeapps/database/Bank-Rate.asp), read 2026-10-10: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [Small Business Commissioner - interest calculator guidance](https://www.smallbusinesscommissioner.gov.uk/help-and-guidance/interest-calculator/interest-calculator-guidance/), read 2026-09-12: every candidate on the page was refused
- [Judgments Act 1838, section 17 (interest on judgment debts)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/1-2/110/section/17), read 2026-10-17: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [Judgment Debts (Rate of Interest) Order 1993](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1993/564/made), read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2013](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/395/made), read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [Procurement Act 2023, section 73 (implied payment terms in public contracts)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/section/73), read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [PPN 018 - a supplier's approach to payment in major contracts](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ppn-018-how-to-take-account-of-a-suppliers-approach-to-payment-in-the-procurement-of-major-contracts/ppn-018-taking-account-of-a-suppliers-approach-to-payment-in-the-procurement-of-major-contracts-html), read 2026-09-12: every candidate on the page was refused
- [PPN 021 - payment spot checks in public sub-contracts](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ppn-021-payment-spot-checks-in-public-sub-contracts/ppn-021-payment-spot-checks-in-public-sub-contracts-html), read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [European Central Bank - key ECB interest rates](https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/policy_and_exchange_rates/key_ecb_interest_rates/html/index.en.html), read 2026-09-26: read in full and no accepted figure on the page

## Methodology

Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through our fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2). 4 of the 19 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 15 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 0 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere. The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source in % (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences), so N counts sources, never sentences; 40 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded. The fuller derivation this dataset is chartered to grow into (not yet what the figures above are; they are each source's own published figure as read): one row per six-month statutory period since 1 November 1998: the Bank of England reference rate in force on the preceding 31 December or 30 June, the margin from the rate order then in force, and the resulting statutory rate - the dated series nobody publishes, which is exactly what a calculator needs to price an invoice that went unpaid across a rate change; beside it, the same period's HMRC late-payment rate (base plus 4%), the flat 8% judgment-debt rate and the euro-area directive rate, so the derived figure is the SPREAD between what the state charges a business and what a business may charge another

## Sources

- [GOV.UK - charging interest on a commercial debt](https://www.gov.uk/late-commercial-payments-interest-debt-recovery/charging-interest-commercial-debt) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [GOV.UK - late commercial payments: charging interest and debt recovery](https://www.gov.uk/late-commercial-payments-interest-debt-recovery) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 - contents](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/20/contents) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, section 6 (rate of interest)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/20/section/6) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, section 2 (qualifying debts)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/20/section/2) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Rate of Interest) (No. 2) Order 1998](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/2765/made) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Rate of Interest) (No. 3) Order 2002](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/1675/made) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [Bank of England - Bank Rate history and data](https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/boeapps/database/Bank-Rate.asp) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [Bank of England - the interest rate (Bank Rate)](https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/the-interest-rate-bank-rate) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [Small Business Commissioner - interest calculator guidance](https://www.smallbusinesscommissioner.gov.uk/help-and-guidance/interest-calculator/interest-calculator-guidance/) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [Small Business Commissioner - interest calculator](https://www.smallbusinesscommissioner.gov.uk/help-and-guidance/interest-calculator/) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [HMRC interest rates for late and early payments](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-hmrc-interest-rates-for-late-and-early-payments/rates-and-allowances-hmrc-interest-rates) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [Judgments Act 1838, section 17 (interest on judgment debts)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/1-2/110/section/17) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [Judgment Debts (Rate of Interest) Order 1993](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1993/564/made) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2013](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/395/made) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [Procurement Act 2023, section 73 (implied payment terms in public contracts)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/section/73) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [PPN 018 - a supplier's approach to payment in major contracts](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ppn-018-how-to-take-account-of-a-suppliers-approach-to-payment-in-the-procurement-of-major-contracts/ppn-018-taking-account-of-a-suppliers-approach-to-payment-in-the-procurement-of-major-contracts-html) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [PPN 021 - payment spot checks in public sub-contracts](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ppn-021-payment-spot-checks-in-public-sub-contracts/ppn-021-payment-spot-checks-in-public-sub-contracts-html) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [European Central Bank - key ECB interest rates](https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/policy_and_exchange_rates/key_ecb_interest_rates/html/index.en.html) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)

## Cite or embed

- The median published figure in the Statutory Late Payment Rate Series is 7.88 percent across 4 sources' own pages (range 3.75 to 8 percent), read 17 October 2026.
- 4 of the 19 named sources read in full publish a figure; 15 publish none, read 17 October 2026.
- Statutory Late Payment Rate Series, period 1 July 2026 to 31 December 2026 (Bank Rate in force on 30 June 2026): median 3.75 percent across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
- The median is down 0.12 percent since 26 September 2026 (was 8 percent across 3).

Cite as: "latepaymentinterest.co.uk Statutory Late Payment Rate Series", updated 2026-10-21, https://latepaymentinterest.co.uk/datasets/statutory-late-payment-rate-series/.

CSV: https://latepaymentinterest.co.uk/datasets/statutory-late-payment-rate-series.csv
JSON: https://latepaymentinterest.co.uk/datasets/statutory-late-payment-rate-series.json
Embed (plain HTML, static link back): see https://latepaymentinterest.co.uk/datasets/statutory-late-payment-rate-series/#median