If you gifted the product with no agreement, usually very little: the product was a gift, nothing was promised in return, and there is nothing to enforce. You can ask, but you can’t demand a post. If you paid a fee for agreed content, you have a contract: chase in writing, quoting the deliverable and the date, then send a letter before action and claim the fee back through the small claims court. The lasting fix is structural: agree deliverables and dates in writing, and don’t pay, or ship, until they’re agreed.
Is a gifted send a contract?
Usually not. A contract needs an agreement on both sides: you send this, they deliver that. A PR box sent with “we'd love you to share it if you like it” is a gift. Nothing was agreed, so nothing was broken.
It gets closer to a contract when there was a clear exchange: “we'll send the serum if you post one Reel by the 15th”, and they said yes. Even then, the value is the product, and chasing a £40 serum through the courts costs more than the serum.
Gifting with an expected post also changes the labelling. The CMA's guidance for influencers treats gifts as a form of payment, so a post made in return for one has to be clearly labelled as an ad. More in gifted vs paid collaborations.
What can you do if you paid and they didn't deliver?
You have a contract, even if it lives in DMs. Treat it like any supplier that hasn't delivered:
Chase in writing. Quote the deliverable and the date they agreed, and give a new deadline. Seven days is fair.
Offer a choice: deliver by the new date, or refund the fee. Plenty of creators have simply fallen behind and will deliver once pressed.
Send a letter before action. Say what was agreed, what you paid, that it wasn't delivered, and that you'll claim the fee back through the court if it isn't resolved within 14 days.
Make a small claim. In England and Wales you can claim online for up to £10,000 on the small claims track. The court fee starts at £35 and is added to your claim.
If you paid through a platform, use its dispute process first. It's faster than a court.
What evidence do you need?
The agreement: the message or contract naming the deliverable, the platform and the date.
Proof of payment, and courier tracking showing the product arrived.
Your chasers, with dates.
Their replies, especially any that acknowledge the deadline.
What should be agreed before you pay or ship anything?
Most non-delivery comes from a vague brief rather than bad faith. Before any money or product moves, agree:
Deliverables: “1 Instagram Reel, 30–45 seconds, plus 3 Stories”, not “some content”.
Dates: when the product arrives, when a draft is due, when it goes live.
Approval: whether you see it before it posts, and how many rounds of changes are included.
Usage rights: whether you can run it as an ad, for how long and where.
Disclosure: how the post will be labelled as an ad.
Late delivery: a new date, or a refund.
Then hold the money back until the work is done, ideally with a third party rather than on trust. It removes the reason to chase at all, and it's fair to the creator too: they can see the fee exists before they start.
How do you stop it happening again?
On Sponsarva, deliverables, dates and usage rights are structured fields on every deal, agreed by both sides before it starts. Your money goes into Stripe escrow when the deal is agreed, and it isn’t released until you approve what was delivered.
If the deal includes product, dispatch and receipt are tracked in the deal, so there's no argument about whether it arrived. If the delivery date passes with nothing submitted, you can open a dispute on the platform, and the agreed terms are the evidence. See how Sponsarva protects deals.
Not sure what the work should cost? UK creator rates for 2026 and the rate calculator show published market prices.
You can ask. Unless the gift was conditional on a post and they agreed to that condition, they don't have to return it.
Paying in full before delivery puts all the risk on you. Paying after delivery puts it all on the creator, which is why good creators often refuse. Holding the fee with a third party until you approve the work is the fair middle.
For a fee of a few hundred pounds, often yes: the online process is simple and the court fee is added to the claim. For a gifted product, almost never.
Not usefully. Platforms don't act on missed collaborations. Your routes are the agreement you made and, if you paid a fee, a claim to get it back.
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