How to deal with a debtor? Leave it to CreditCall

Has a client or business partner not paid your invoice and suddenly you don’t hear from them? Don’t wait unnecessarily and start collecting the debt. What does this process look like and what should you keep in mind? We have all the information for you.

Watch out for the statute of limitations

When you notice that you the other party has not paid the claim, start collecting it as soon as possible so that it does not accidentally become time-barred.

The limitation period depends on your relationship with the debtor. If it is a commercial relationship, the claim is time-barred 4 years from the date on which it could have been brought before a court. In the case of a civil law relationship, it is 3 years.

After this period, the debtor may raise a statute of limitations objection in court. Even the court cannot do anything against it.

Years later, proving can also be a problem

If you wait to enforce, you risk not only being time-barred, but also that the whole process will be difficult and ultimately may not be successful at all. Some facts are very difficult to prove after a long time.

Try to get in touch with the debtor

When you venture into debt recovery yourself, the first thing to do is to contact the debtor by all available means. This means phone, email and social media. At the same time, remember that it’s not enough to call or write to the person once or twice. Remind them regularly of the unpaid invoice.

Be sure to keep written communications on file. If the case is later taken to court, emails or text messages will be excellent evidence.

Require a written acknowledgement of commitment

If the debtor communicates with you and is willing to pay the debt, but not immediately, ask for a written acknowledgement of the debt. You can also attach a repayment schedule for the other party to repay the debt.

In connection with the written acknowledgement of the obligation, it is important to add that once you have it, the limitation period is extended to 10 years.

When the debtor does not communicate with you

If the debtor does not communicate with you, file for a payment order. When the court issues it, the following situations occur:

• The debtor pays his/her debt – the most ideal situation is when the other party pays you shortly after the payment order is issued.
• The debtor receives the order for payment within 15 days, but fails to pay it and does not oppose it – the order for payment is final, so you can file a petition for execution. At this stage, the debt is dealt with by the bailiff, who will send it to you once it has been recovered.
• The debtor files a resistance to the order for payment – when the debtor does so, the court will order a hearing to examine the validity of your claim. If the court awards it to you, the debtor must pay it. If he or she does not pay, you can file a petition for foreclosure.
• The order for payment could not be delivered to the debtor in his/her own hands – the document is cancelled and the court orders a hearing in the case. From this point on, the same process as in the point above takes place.

Leave it to the experts

Don’t have time for lengthy debt collection or don’t want to deal with this unpleasant situation yourself? Contact us. At the CreditCall call centre, we have a proven procedure that consists of three basic steps:

• Early collection – We contact the client or business partner either 2 to 3 days before the due date or 7 to 14 days after the due date of the receivable, when we find out why it has not been paid.
• Out-of-court debt recovery – We make contact with the debtor and try to conclude an acknowledgement of liability or a repayment plan.
• Judicial recovery – we will prepare an estimate of the costs associated with legal recovery. Once these are accepted, our lawyer begins to resolve the situation through the courts.

Consequently, we can also help you with debt recovery from abroad. We do so thanks to our international network of partner law firms.