Free demand letter template
A free demand letter for an unpaid debt in Kenya. It asks for payment by a stated date and invites a written reply, because under section 23(3) of the Limitation of Actions Act a signed acknowledgement of the debt — or any part payment — makes the limitation period run afresh from that date.
What you still need to do
- Fill in every square-bracketed blank, and delete the bracketed instructions once you have.
- Attach copies of whatever supports the amount — the invoice, the agreement, the M-Pesa statement. A demand with nothing behind it invites a dispute.
- Send it in a way you can prove: registered post, a courier with tracking, or email as well as post. Keep the proof with your copy.
- Check the date the debt fell due against the periods on this page before you send it.
- Do not rely on the letter to buy you time. A demand does not by itself extend the period you have to sue — what makes the period run afresh is the other side acknowledging the debt in writing and signing that acknowledgement, or making a payment — Limitation of Actions Act sections 23(3) and 24.
Why each clause is here
Every clause in this document is drawn from the provision named beside it, and the wording of each provision was read in the Act itself. Where the law fixes something a document cannot change, this is where it says so.
No Act dictates the layout of a letter. The sender’s address and the date are here for a practical reason: if the recipient replies acknowledging the debt, section 24(2) of the Limitation of Actions Act requires that acknowledgement to have been made to you or to your agent — so they need to be able to reply to you, and you need to be able to show when.
The amount goes in the subject line so that the letter, and any reply to it, is unambiguous about the sum in question. If the recipient replies agreeing to it, that clarity is what makes the reply useful.
The dates are not decoration. Under section 4(1)(a) of the Limitation of Actions Act an action founded on contract may not be brought after six years from the date the cause of action accrued — ordinarily the date payment fell due. Setting out when the debt arose and when it fell due lets both sides see whether the claim is still within time.
A plain demand with a date and a payment method. There is no statutory notice period for a demand letter in the Acts we hold, so the period is yours to set; fourteen or twenty-one days is commonly given.
🔑 This is the clause that does the legal work. Section 23(3) of the Limitation of Actions Act provides that where a right of action has accrued to recover a debt or other liquidated claim and the person liable acknowledges the claim or makes any payment in respect of it, the right accrues on the date of the acknowledgement or the last payment — the limitation period runs afresh from then. Section 24(1) requires the acknowledgement to be in writing and signed by the person making it, which is why clause 7 asks for a signed letter rather than a phone call or a message. A part payment has the same effect, though under the proviso to section 23(3) part payment of rent or interest does not extend the period for the remainder then due.
A statement of what you intend to do, and nothing more. 🔴 Do not add a threat you are not entitled to carry out — for example to seize property, to publish the debt, or to involve the police over a civil debt. None of those is supported by the Acts this template is built from, and a threat you cannot lawfully execute damages your position rather than helping it.
Sign it and keep a copy, together with proof of how and when it was sent. If the recipient later acknowledges the debt in writing, what matters under sections 23(3) and 24 is the acknowledgement and its date — and your copy of this letter is what puts their reply in context.
The provisions, in the Act’s own words
Spacing is normalised for reading. Every word is the Act’s.
(1) Every acknowledgement of the kind mentioned in section 23 of this Act must be in writing and signed by the person making it. (2) The acknowledgement or payment mentioned in section 23 of this Act is one made to the person, or to an agent of the person, whose title or claim is being acknowledged, or in respect of whose claim the payment is being made
The following actions may not be brought after the end of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued— (a) actions founded on contract
Where a right of action has accrued to recover a debt or other liquidated pecuniary claim … and the person liable or accountable therefor acknowledges the claim or makes any payment in respect of it, the right accrues on and not before the date of the acknowledgement or the last payment: Provided that a payment of a part of the rent or interest due at any time does not extend the period for claiming the remainder then due, but a payment of interest is treated as a payment in respect of the principal debt.