Draft, not legal advice. Product-specific wording to merge into the FSB member templates before launch (see README.md). Last updated: 20 October 2026 (draft)

PaidStraight acceptable use policy

This policy is part of the PaidStraight terms of service. It sets out what you may and may not use PaidStraight for. Every message PaidStraight sends goes out in your business name, so these rules protect you, your clients and us.

If you break this policy, we may pause your sending, suspend your account or close it (terms, section 11).

What PaidStraight is for

Chasing genuine, unpaid invoices that your own business issued, politely and accurately.

You must not

Harass anyone

• Do not use PaidStraight to send messages designed to cause alarm, distress or humiliation, by how often they are sent, when they are sent, or what they say.
• PaidStraight already keeps at least 3 days between contacts about the same invoice and only sends during your working hours on working days. Do not try to get round these limits, for example by creating duplicate invoices or extra accounts for the same debt.
• Do not copy in, or send to, family members, employers, neighbours or anyone else to put pressure on the person who owes you.

Threaten or mislead

• Do not threaten anything you do not intend to do, or have no right to do.
• Do not say or suggest that not paying is a crime, or that the police, bailiffs or enforcement officers will be involved, unless a court has already made an order that allows it.
• Do not overstate the amount owed. Only add statutory interest and compensation where the law allows (see below).
• Do not change PaidStraight's templates to add false or misleading statements.

Pretend to be someone you are not

• Do not present yourself, or PaidStraight, as a court, a court officer, a government body, a solicitor, a law firm or a debt collection agency.
• Do not make letters look like official court documents.
• Do not use another business's name or details as the sender.

In England and Wales, falsely claiming official authority, falsely saying criminal proceedings lie for non-payment, or sending documents made to look official can be a criminal offence (Administration of Justice Act 1970, s.40).

Use the formal steps against consumers

• Mark every client correctly as a business or a consumer.
• You may send polite reminders to consumer clients. You must not use statutory interest, compensation, final notices or letters before action for consumers. PaidStraight blocks these for clients marked as consumers or not set. Do not mark a consumer as a business to get round this.
• PaidStraight is not for collecting consumer debts in a way that would need authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority.

Chase disputed debts as if they were undisputed

• If your client tells you they dispute all or part of the invoice, pause the sequence or change your next message so it deals with the dispute.
• Do not send a final notice or letter before action that ignores a dispute you know about. A court may look at how you handled it.
• If only part is disputed, chase only the part that is not.

Chase debts that are not yours

• Only chase invoices your own business issued for goods or services you supplied.
• Do not use PaidStraight to chase debts for another business, a friend or a client, even if they ask you.
• Do not chase debts you have bought, or that have been assigned or sold to you.

Chase old debts the law no longer allows you to claim

• In England and Wales, and in Northern Ireland, a court claim for an unpaid invoice must usually be brought within 6 years of the date payment was due (Limitation Act 1980, s.5; Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989, art 4).
• In Scotland, the obligation to pay is usually extinguished after 5 years from when payment became due, unless the debt was claimed or acknowledged in the meantime (Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973, s.6).
• Do not use PaidStraight to chase invoices past these limits. If you are not sure whether a debt is out of time, get advice before you chase.

Contact the wrong people

• Send reminders only to the person or business that owes you, or to the contact they gave you for invoices (for example, their accounts team).
• If an email bounces, or someone tells you it is the wrong address, correct it. Do not keep sending.

Use PaidStraight for regulated credit

• Do not use PaidStraight to chase debts under consumer credit agreements, hire-purchase, consumer hire or other agreements regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
• Do not use it to chase loans, or invoices on which you agreed to charge interest or fees for paying in instalments.

Send marketing or spam

• Reminder emails are service messages about an existing invoice. Do not add offers, adverts, newsletters or promotions to them.
• Do not use PaidStraight to email people who do not owe you money.
• Do not import mailing lists.

Misuse the service

• Do not add special category data (health, religion and so on) or criminal records data about anyone.
• Do not try to break, overload, reverse-engineer or get round PaidStraight's security or limits.
• Do not share your account outside your business, or resell PaidStraight.
• Do not use PaidStraight for anything unlawful.

Reporting misuse

If you received a message sent through PaidStraight that you think breaks this policy, email [CONTACT EMAIL] with a copy of the message. We will look into it. We cannot resolve the debt itself; that is between you and the business that sent it.

[Solicitor to confirm: (1) the limitation and prescription summaries, including how acknowledgements and part-payments affect them; (2) whether s.40 AJA 1970 or the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 should be referenced for Scotland and Northern Ireland too; (3) that the rule on disputed debts is appropriate for business debts.]