Unpaid Tutoring Invoice in France: What to Do Next
Dated reminders, a formal notice, a free conciliator, then an order for payment: how French tutors recover an unpaid tutoring bill before the 2-year limit.
An unpaid tutoring invoice in France is a bill for lessons already taught that a family has not settled by the agreed date. Most of the time, two or three polite reminders fix it. This guide covers what comes next: when messages go unanswered and the amount is worth pursuing under French rules.
Start with written, dated reminders
Before any formal step, you need to show the family knew exactly what they owed. A reminder that works states three things: which lessons, the exact amount, and how to pay. Send it in writing, so there is a dated record.
A pace that holds up once the due date has passed:
- Day 3: "Hi, a quick reminder for the 4 lessons in September, €140, by bank transfer to the usual account. Thanks!"
- Day 10: the same message, with the invoice attached and a date: "Could you settle it before the 15th?"
- Day 20: a phone call, then a message offering a way out, such as two instalments.
Our guide to chasing late tutoring payments covers the tone in detail. Keep in mind that when the client is a private individual, payment is normally due straight away, unless you agreed on a due date.
The formal notice: your last friendly step
When reminders fail, a formal notice (mise en demeure) marks the change of tone. According to Service Public Entreprendre, the official French business portal, it goes by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt and must be worded clearly and formally enough to count as a formal notice. A simple version:
Dear Sir or Madam, despite my reminders of 3 and 10 October, invoice no. 2026-041 dated 30 September, for €140 covering four maths lessons, remains unpaid. I hereby give you formal notice to pay this amount within eight days of receiving this letter. Failing that, I will start recovery proceedings.
Keep a copy, the postal receipt and the signed acknowledgement. They become your evidence.
Want to see who owes what and send a WhatsApp reminder in one click?
Try it freeA free court conciliator
Before going to a judge, you can ask a conciliateur de justice, a free court-appointed conciliator. The goal is a written agreement between you and the family, such as a payment plan. For a family acting in good faith during a tight month, it is often the fastest route.
Two procedures to get an enforceable order
If the family still does not respond, French law offers two routes, both described on service-public.gouv.fr.
The simplified recovery procedure
For a debt of €5,000 or less, a commissaire de justice (the former bailiff) can invite the family to pay through a supervised out-of-court procedure. You hand over the invoice, your reminders, the formal notice and how much room you leave for negotiation. This service is not free.
The order for payment (injonction de payer)
It gets you a court order without a hearing. The debt must be:
- certain, meaning it cannot reasonably be disputed;
- liquid, with a set amount;
- due, the payment date having passed;
- not time-barred.
For lessons billed to a family, you use the form addressed to the president of the tribunal judiciaire. Filing is free if you do it yourself; having a commissaire de justice serve the order on the family costs money, though the judge can order the family to cover those costs. Since 1 September 2026, the order must be served within 3 months, down from 6. The family then has one month to object.
Do not let two years go by
Between a business and a consumer, the limitation period is 2 years, according to the court recovery page on Service Public Entreprendre. After that, the debt can no longer be claimed in court. A lesson invoice from September 2026 left in a drawer becomes a real risk by autumn 2028.
In practice, the best remedy is writing things down before the first lesson: rate, due date and cancellation rules, signed. Our lesson contract generator is free and follows French consumer law. And to know every week who is behind without digging through bank statements, tutor invoicing software that matches transfers to invoices keeps unpaid lessons from piling up.
Sources
A senior software engineer, he founds and runs several tech companies. He builds products around messaging APIs, automation and AI integration, and shares here what he learns while building.
- impayés
- relance
- mise en demeure
- injonction de payer