If an influencer agency or manager has collected a brand's payment and not passed your share on, start by confirming where the money is: whether the brand has paid, when, and into whose account. Then gather your contracts, invoices and proof of delivery, send a dated written request, follow it with a formal demand letter that sets a deadline, and escalate through the route that fits where you and the agency are based. Depending on the place, that can mean a complaint to NSW Fair Trading or a claim in the NSW Local Court's Small Claims Division, a county court money claim in England and Wales, a complaint or lawsuit under New York's Freelance Isn't Free Act, or a civil claim under California's Freelance Worker Protection Act.
First, find out where the money is
“I haven't been paid” covers three different problems, and each one has a different fix. The brand may not have paid yet, in which case your manager should be chasing it and your contract may say commission is only due once the brand pays. The brand may have paid the agency, which has not paid you, the problem this guide is mainly about. Or the agency may have paid you less than the contract allows, which is a statement dispute rather than a missing payment.
Ask the agency in writing for the date the brand paid, the amount received and the remittance reference. If the answer is vague, check the payment terms in the brand contract or purchase order. You can also ask the brand's accounts payable team whether, when and to whom the invoice was paid. Some will only confirm a date, and your contract with the brand may have confidentiality terms, so keep that request short and factual.
If the shortfall comes from deductions rather than a missing payment, compare the statement with the commission terms first; our guide to how much influencer managers take shows how to rebuild the expected figure line by line.
Records to gather before you send anything
- Your management agreement, with the payment clause, payout deadline, commission terms, statement duties, governing law and dispute clause marked.
- The brand contract, purchase order or campaign brief that sets the fee and the payment terms.
- Proof you delivered: live links, dated screenshots, approval emails and any performance report you sent the brand.
- Every invoice, noting who issued it to whom, because that shows who contracted with the brand.
- Remittance advice, payment confirmations or the brand's written confirmation that it paid.
- All statements the agency has sent you, and the messages in which it promised a payment date.
- A one-page timeline: deal agreed, content delivered, invoice sent, brand paid, payout due, each request you made.
Save copies somewhere the agency cannot reach. If they control a shared drive or the email address the brand used, export what you need now.
Legal payout clocks that may already apply
Some agents and representatives are covered by rules that set the deadline for you. Check whether yours is before you rely only on the contract.
| Rule | Who it binds | The clock |
|---|---|---|
| NSW Entertainment Industry Act 2013 | Performer representatives, both agents and managers | Money held in a NSW trust account and paid to the performer within 14 days of receipt |
| Queensland private employment agent rules | Agents receiving money for models or performers | Paid on within 7 days of receipt, with proper account records |
| California Labor Code section 1700.25 | Licensed talent agencies | Trust account, then paid out less commission within 30 days, with narrow exceptions |
| GB Conduct Regulations 2003, regulation 25 | Agencies receiving pay for listed entertainment and modelling work | Held as trustee in a client account for no more than ten days unless you asked otherwise, with a statement each time |
| New York General Business Law section 1411 | A hiring party that retained a freelancer for work worth at least $800, alone or across 120 days | The contract date, or 30 days after the work is completed if the contract sets none |
| California Business and Professions Code section 18102 | A California hiring party that retained a freelancer for professional services worth at least $250, alone or across 120 days | Pay by the date in the contract; with no date, within 30 days of the work being finished |
In California, a licensed agency that wilfully misses the 30-day deadline can be ordered by the Labor Commissioner to pay the artist's attorney's fees and interest on the withheld money. In Great Britain, GOV.UK's overview of rules for employment agencies and businesses lists withholding payments due among the things an agency must not do.
Who is the hiring party? Why it matters for freelancer laws
New York's and California's freelancer laws bind the hiring party, meaning whoever retained you to do the work. That depends on who signed what. If the brand contracted with you and simply paid your manager as your agent, the brand may already have paid in full, and your claim lies against the manager under your management contract and any trust-account rule that applies. If the agency contracted with the brand and then engaged you to make the content, the agency is likely your hiring party and the freelancer law can apply to it directly.
The remedies are significant when a law does apply. New York lets a freelancer sue in court or complain to the state Attorney General, and a hiring party that pays late can face double damages plus attorney's fees. California allows a civil action with damages of up to twice the unpaid amount, but only for contracts entered into or renewed from 1 January 2025, and only for professional services as the state's Labor Code defines them, a list that includes original and creative marketing work, videographers and freelance writers. Whether your content fits is a question for a lawyer who knows these statutes.
Payment-chase timeline
| Stage | What to do | What to keep |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Payout date passes | Work out the date from the contract and from any legal clock above that covers your agency | A note of how you calculated it |
| 2. Written request | Email asking for the brand's payment date, the amount received and when you will be paid | The sent email and any reply |
| 3. Second request | Repeat with the invoice and contract clause attached, and ask for a statement | Proof of sending, such as a read receipt or courier record |
| 4. Demand letter | Send the template below with a specific deadline date | A signed copy and proof of delivery |
| 5. Regulator or mediation | Complain to the regulator that covers the agency, or use a small business commissioner or mediation service | The complaint reference number |
| 6. Court claim | File in the small claims or money claims process where the contract or the agency is based | The claim number and every filing |
| 7. Enforcement | If you win and still are not paid, ask the court about enforcing the judgment | The judgment and a record of payments received |
Move through the stages steadily rather than waiting months between them. Limitation periods run whatever you do, and if an agency is in financial trouble, waiting can leave less to recover.
Demand-letter template
Keep it factual and calm. Replace each bracketed field, delete what does not apply, and send it from an address you will keep using.
Subject: Formal demand for payment under our management agreement dated [date]
To [agency or manager name], [registered business name and address].
Under clause [number] of our agreement, you must pay me money received on my behalf by [the contractual deadline]. On [date], [brand name] paid you [amount] for the [campaign name] deliverables, which I delivered on [date]. After your commission of [amount] under clause [number], [amount] is due to me. I have not received it, despite my requests on [dates].
Please pay [amount] to [account details or agreed method] by [deadline date], and send a statement showing the date and amount the brand paid, every deduction and the date of payment to me.
If I have not received payment and the statement by that date, I intend to [complain to the relevant regulator / start a claim in the relevant court] without further notice, and to claim any interest and costs the law allows.
Copies of the agreement, the invoice and my delivery records are attached.
[Your name or business name], [date].
Only state next steps you are prepared to take, and do not add accusations you cannot prove. If the payment clause in your agreement is unclear, the influencer management contract checklist explains what the payment-flow and statement clauses are meant to cover.
Routes by jurisdiction
| Place | Route | What it handles |
|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | NSW Fair Trading complaint, then the Local Court Small Claims Division for claims up to $20,000 | Representatives who miss the payment deadline or breach agreement terms; general money claims |
| Elsewhere in Australia | A small business commission or ombudsman first, then a tribunal or court, as Creative Workplaces recommends | Unpaid invoices and contract disputes, under the law your contract chooses |
| England and Wales | A county court money claim, online or by post; Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate processes | Money owed by a person or business, with interest you can add to the claim |
| Great Britain, agency conduct | The Fair Work Agency, which regulates employment agencies in England, Scotland and Wales | Agencies breaking the conduct rules, including withholding payments due |
| New York | A complaint to the Attorney General, as the state labor department explains, or a court action | Hiring parties that pay freelancers late, short or without a written contract |
| California | A civil action under the Freelance Worker Protection Act, or the Labor Commissioner for disputes with licensed talent agencies | Late-paying hiring parties; trust-fund and fee disputes under the Talent Agencies Act |
If a brand, or an agency that bought your services, is the one paying late in a business-to-business deal in the UK, GOV.UK's guide to late commercial payments explains when a payment counts as late and how to add statutory interest and fixed recovery costs to what you claim.
What not to do while you chase
- Do not post accusations about the agency in public. Statements you cannot prove can expose you to a defamation claim, and a public fight can make a quiet settlement harder to reach.
- Do not withhold content owed to a brand that has already paid; your obligations to the brand usually run separately from your dispute with the agency.
- Do not accept a part-payment marked as full and final settlement without reading what you would be giving up.
- Do not hand over account logins, payment details or new content as a condition of being paid what you are already owed.
- Do not let the conversation move to voice calls only. Confirm anything said on a call in an email the same day.
Limitations of this guide
This guide is general information, not legal advice, and it has clear limits. The deadlines and routes above come from official pages for a handful of places, apply only to particular roles and contract types, and may not reach your arrangement. Court limits, fees and time limits change, so check the court's own pages before filing, and speak to a lawyer early if the amount is large, the agency is based in another country, or it has stopped responding altogether. For OnlyFans income, our agency reporting checklist covers how to read statements, and if you suspect fraud or have lost control of an account, start with our guide to OnlyFans agency scams and red flags instead.