BadCop › Late fees by jurisdiction › New Zealand

Charging interest on overdue invoices in New Zealand

New Zealand has no statutory right to interest on a late invoice. You can charge it only if your written terms of trade say so and the customer accepted them before the work; a surprise charge added to an invoice is unenforceable and may breach the Fair Trading Act.

The rules

• The interest rate or late fee must be stated in your quote, contract or terms of trade and accepted by the customer. Silence in the terms means no right to charge.
• Adding an unagreed overdue charge to an invoice can mislead the customer about what they owe, which the Fair Trading Act 1986 prohibits.
• The rate must be reasonable rather than punitive; 1% to 2% per month is common practice and rarely challenged.
• For consumer sales, the Consumer Guarantees Act and unfair contract term rules also apply to standard-form terms.
• If you sue, the Disputes Tribunal (up to NZ$30,000) is the usual route; court-awarded interest follows its own rules.

Configuring it in BadCop

Set late_fee_pct to what your terms of trade say (1.0 to 1.5 is typical) and quote the clause in the final-notice template. If your terms are silent, leave the fee at 0 and fix the terms for future work.

Work the numbers with the late-fee calculator, and see the final-notice template that applies the fee.

Sources

• Late payment fees in New Zealand: what businesses can legally charge (Sprintlaw NZ)
• Overdue invoice interest in NZ: can you charge it, and how much? (TradeFlow)
• How much can I charge for late fees in New Zealand? (Paidnice)

General information, not legal advice. Verified against the sources above in September 2026; rates and rules change. If money is at stake, ask a lawyer or accountant in your jurisdiction.