Small claims court query

Hi there,

I'm taking two companies to the small claims court after many months of wrangling with them. One refuses to pay and the other ignores all correspondence.

I've charged both of them the usual £40 late payment fee, plus daily interest for every day late, as ya do.

My question is this: when filling in the online form for the small claims court, it asks for the debt - but says to ignore the interest, as the website calculates that for you. Fair enough.

But there's a but coming! Let me give you an example. One customer owed me £168. With the late payment fee, that takes it to £208. With the interest already charged, that takes it even higher. Let's call it £215 for the sake of simplicity.

So which figure do I put down as "the debt" in the small claims court process? If it's the original figure of £168, that doesn't include the late payment fee. But if I add the £40, the website will charge interest on £208 - not £168.

Or - do I put the debt down as £215 and just tell the website to calculate extra interest from the date I sent the letter containing the late payment fee and earlier interest - ie not the original invoice date?

Any help gratefully received!