Sample Letter of Demand (Australia): A Real Example, Explained
Last updated · Reviewed by the Claim Done team · Not legal advice
This is a real letter of demand produced by Claim Done’s drafting process, from the fictional answers shown below. The names, amounts and dates are made up. The wording is exactly what the process wrote on 21 October 2026, after its automatic check; we have not edited it. Your own letter is drafted from your answers, and you read and approve it before anything is sent.
The answers it was drafted from
- What is this about? Unpaid invoice or work I did
- Who is the letter going to? Casey Brandt
- Your state or territory: New South Wales
- Amount owed: $3,850
- What happened: “I am a freelance web designer in Newcastle. Casey Brandt asked me to build a website for a new physiotherapy practice. We agreed by email on 15 July 2026 on a fixed price of $3,850 including GST, payable on completion. I finished and launched the site on 12 August 2026 and emailed invoice INV-0142 for $3,850, due 26 August 2026. Casey emailed me on 13 August saying the site looked great. I sent payment reminders by email on 2 September and 23 September 2026. On 25 September Casey replied that they would pay next week, but nothing has been paid and they have not answered my messages since.”
The letter
Jordan Ellis
Newcastle NSW
jordan.ellis@example.com
21 October 2026
By email
Casey Brandt
RE: LETTER OF DEMAND — UNPAID INVOICE INV-0142 — $3,850.00
Dear Casey Brandt,
I write in respect of the sum of $3,850.00, which remains owing to me for website design and development services I supplied to you under our agreement of 15 July 2026, as set out in my invoice INV-0142.
BACKGROUND
1. I am a freelance web designer based in Newcastle, New South Wales.
2. You asked me to design and build a website for a new physiotherapy practice.
3. On 15 July 2026, you and I agreed by email that I would build the website for a fixed price of $3,850.00 (including GST), payable on completion of the work (the Agreement).
4. I completed the website and launched it on 12 August 2026. On that date I emailed you invoice INV-0142 for $3,850.00, with payment due by 26 August 2026.
5. On 13 August 2026, you emailed me saying that the website looked great.
6. You did not pay the invoice by the due date of 26 August 2026.
7. I sent you payment reminders by email on 2 September 2026 and 23 September 2026.
8. On 25 September 2026, you replied by email that you would pay the following week.
9. You have made no payment, and you have not responded to my messages since 25 September 2026.
10. The full sum of $3,850.00 remains outstanding.
LEGAL BASIS
11. The Agreement is a binding contract, formed by our exchange of emails on 15 July 2026. Under its terms, I agreed to design and build the website, and you agreed to pay a fixed price of $3,850.00 (including GST) on completion.
12. I performed my obligations under the Agreement in full when I completed and launched the website on 12 August 2026. Your obligation to pay the agreed price then arose, and invoice INV-0142 required payment by 26 August 2026.
13. You accepted the completed work. In your email of 13 August 2026 you expressed satisfaction with the website. In your email of 25 September 2026 you acknowledged that payment was due and undertook to pay it.
14. Your failure to pay the agreed price is a breach of the Agreement. The sum of $3,850.00 is a liquidated debt that is due and payable to me, and I am entitled to recover it.
DEMAND
15. I demand payment of the following amount:
| Item | Amount | Due date |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice INV-0142 (website design and development, including GST) | $3,850.00 | 26 August 2026 |
| TOTAL | $3,850.00 |
16. You are required to pay the sum of $3,850.00 within 14 days of the date of this letter, being by 4 November 2026.
CONSEQUENCES OF NON-PAYMENT
17. If you do not comply, I may commence proceedings against you in the Local Court of New South Wales, Small Claims Division, without further notice. I would seek the amount claimed together with interest, costs and any other relief the court considers appropriate.
18. If I commence proceedings, I intend to ask the court or tribunal to award interest under section 100 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), where it has power to do so. The rate the courts currently apply is 8.35% a year, simple interest, which on $3,850.00 is about $0.88 for each day the amount remains unpaid. This interest is not included in the amount demanded above.
PAYMENT
19. Please make payment by electronic funds transfer to me, Jordan Ellis. I will confirm my account details in writing on request. Please send that request to jordan.ellis@example.com.
20. Please quote invoice number INV-0142 as the payment reference.
I look forward to receiving payment in full by 4 November 2026.
Yours faithfully,
Jordan Ellis
What each part does
- The facts (paragraphs 1 to 10) come only from the answers. Every date, amount and reference in the letter matches what was entered, and nothing was added that the answers did not say.
- The legal basis (11 to 14) explains why the money is owed: an agreement was made, the work was done and accepted, and payment was acknowledged. It states the claim; it is not legal advice.
- The demand (15 and 16) states the exact amount and a firm date. Fourteen days is the period official guides usually suggest, and the deadline is calculated from the date of the letter.
- The next step (17) names the right place for this claim. In New South Wales a general debt like an unpaid invoice goes to the Local Court (the Small Claims Division hears claims up to $20,000), not to NCAT, which hears consumer claims against businesses. See letter of demand before NCAT or the NSW Local Court.
- Interest (18) is mentioned only because the court has power to award it, at the rate the courts currently publish, with the daily amount worked out. It is kept out of the amount demanded, so the letter does not overstate the debt. Interest is quoted only where we have checked the current official rate.
- Payment (19 and 20) tells the reader how to pay and what reference to use, so paying is easy.
The letter is calm and factual. It does not threaten anything the law does not allow, it does not call anyone names, and it does not suggest the reader has committed a crime. That matters: an aggressive letter can be used against the sender later.
What happens after you approve it
- Claim Done emails the letter to the other party and sends you a copy, at no extra cost.
- If you add registered post ($29), it is printed and posted by Australia Post within 24 hours on business days, the recipient signs for it, and you get the tracking number as proof of delivery.
- If the deadline passes without payment, the next step is usually a claim in the court or tribunal named in the letter. Claim Done can draft that from the same answers.
Write it yourself, or have it drafted
You can write a letter of demand yourself; a free template and checklist is enough if you are confident about the facts, the amount, the deadline and which court or tribunal comes next. Claim Done drafts it from your answers under your state’s law, checks it, and sends it after you approve it.
Letter of Demand: $49. You read every word, change anything you like, and nothing is sent until you approve it.
How the draft is checked: how Claim Done drafts and checks your document.
Questions
Is this a real Claim Done letter?
Yes. It is the text our drafting process produced from the fictional answers above, after its automatic check. Only the names, amounts and dates are made up.
Will my letter look the same?
The structure is similar: facts, the reason the money is owed, the demand and deadline, the next step and how to pay. The content comes from your answers and your state’s law, so a Victorian or Queensland letter names a different court or tribunal and interest rule.
Can I change the wording?
Yes. You can edit the letter yourself as often as you like, or ask for up to two redrafts, before you approve it.
Is a letter of demand legally required before going to court?
Usually not as a strict legal requirement, but courts and tribunals expect you to have tried to resolve the dispute first, and a clear written demand is the usual evidence that you did.
Is Claim Done a law firm?
No. Claim Done drafts documents from your answers. It does not give legal advice and does not guarantee that you will be paid.