Payment times › United Kingdom › Financial and insurance
830 financial and insurance filings · United Kingdom

How long do UK financial and insurance companies take to pay suppliers?

Large UK financial and insurance companies take a median of 22 days to pay supplier invoices, 9 days faster than the UK median of 31 days. The sector ranks 18 of 18, where 1 is the slowest payer.

Figures cover large UK companies paying all their suppliers.

22daysmedian to pay suppliers
18of 18slowest-paying rank
14%of invoices paid late
503insolvencies, last 12 months

Where does financial and insurance rank?

Rank 18 of 18 by median days to pay, where 1 is the slowest. The dark bar is financial and insurance.

How many invoices are paid late?

At the median company, 14% of invoices are paid late, 1 point below the UK figure of 15%.

How long do most take?

The middle half of companies pay in 15 to 29 days. A quarter take longer than 29 days.

How many invoices go past 60 days?

3% of invoices take more than 60 days at the median company, against 5% across the UK.

How many companies became insolvent?

503 financial and insurance companies became insolvent in England and Wales over Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, rank 12 of 18 by number of cases. This is a count, not a rate.

Businesses that sell to financial and insurance companies can compare these figures with their own debtor days, or check how fast a single customer pays. Paidnice is UK credit control software that sends reminders and adds late fees on overdue invoices in Xero or QuickBooks. For the wider picture, read the accounts receivable statistics for the UK.

Which financial and insurance trades pay slowest?

Activities of other holding companies n.e.c. is the slowest trade at 26.5 days. Banks is the fastest at 17 days.

Trade (SIC)Median daysMiddle halfPaid late
Activities of other holding companies n.e.c. (64209)123 companies26.521 to 44.216.5%
Activities of insurance agents and brokers (66220)24 companies2420 to 29.517%
Financial intermediation not elsewhere classified (64999)204 companies2214.5 to 29.514%
Activities of financial services holding companies (64205)66 companies2217.5 to 30.218.5%
Non-life insurance (65120)80 companies21.518 to 2914%
Other activities auxiliary to insurance and pension funding (66290)21 companies20.515 to 25.511%
Fund management activities (66300)51 companies19.515 to 2516%
Credit granting by non-deposit taking finance houses and other specialist consumer credit grantors (64921)20 companies19.514.2 to 23.814.5%
Security and commodity contracts dealing activities (66120)37 companies1914 to 2413.5%
Financial leasing (64910)21 companies198.8 to 27.514%
Life insurance (65110)23 companies1911.8 to 23.58.5%
Banks (64191)78 companies1712.5 to 228%

Cite: Paidnice (2026). UK financial and insurance payment times. https://www.paidnice.com/payment-times/uk/financial-services. Source: UK payment practices filings (March 2025 to August 2026), Companies House, Insolvency Service. Figures cover large UK companies paying all their suppliers.

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Questions

How long do UK financial and insurance companies take to pay invoices?

Large UK financial and insurance companies take a median of 22 days to pay supplier invoices, 9 days faster than the UK median of 31 days. The sector ranks 18 of 18, where 1 is the slowest payer.

What share of financial and insurance invoices are paid late?

At the median financial and insurance company, 14% of supplier invoices are not paid within the agreed terms. For all UK large companies the median is 15%.

How many financial and insurance companies became insolvent in the last 12 months?

503 financial and insurance companies entered insolvency in England and Wales in the 12 months to Aug 2026. That ranks 12 of 18 sectors by number of cases. This is a count, not a rate, so larger sectors have more cases.

Can I charge interest when a UK customer pays late?

Yes. The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 lets a business charge statutory interest of 8% a year above the Bank of England base rate on a late commercial invoice, plus fixed compensation of £40, £70 or £100 depending on the invoice amount.

Method and sources

The Reporting on Payment Practices and Performance Regulations 2017 require large UK companies and LLPs to report twice a year on how they pay suppliers. We took each company's latest filing with a period ending March 2025 to August 2026, matched it to its first SIC code on the Companies House register, and grouped companies by SIC section. Each company reports its own average days to pay. We take the median of those company averages, so one extreme filer cannot move the sector result. Trades and sectors publish only with 20 or more companies. Insolvency counts are Insolvency Service figures for England and Wales, Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, not seasonally adjusted.

Sources: UK payment practices service, Companies House, Insolvency Service. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Download the sector and trade data (CSV).