Debt Collection Agency Austria
Amicable Debt Collections Austria
1. General information
Cosmopolite Collections maintain a professional collection process, focusing on the relationships between our clients and their debtors at all times. Our team of collection specialists carry out the collection process in-house.
We contact debtors both verbally and in writing whilst adhering to federal and state laws.
1.2. Local agents
At this time, we do not have the ability to visit debtors in Austria. However, if the debtor wishes to visit our premises, we will gladly arrange a face-to-face meeting to discuss the situation.
1.3. Interest
Cosmopolite Collections always charge interest to debtors calculated from the base rate set by the Austrian National Bank plus 9.2% on a daily basis (see European Directive 2011/7/EU in conjunction with the Austrian trade law paragraph 456).
From a cultural point of view, Austrian debtors are used to paying late payment interest, although the actual amount of the interest payment is considered a matter for negotiation between debtors and collectors.
1.4. Debt collection costs Austria
Collection costs (‘Inkassokosten’) can be charged according to §1333 Allgemeines Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (ABGB) – the General Austrian Civil Code – as damage for delay.
Austrian cases are dealt with by our German subsidiary, so we apply the same debt collection costs that are charged to German debtors, calculated on the basis of the Rechtsanwaltsvergütungsgesetz (RVG) – the German statutory lawyers’ fees.
Cosmopolite Collections will either forward all recovered debt collection costs to our clients to reduce the claim, retain the cost or add them to the success fee. This will depend on the contractual agreement between the client and Cosmopolite Collections.
2. Legal Debt Collections Austria
2.1. General information
Entering into legal proceedings is possible without prior warning to the debtor. However, in Austria, courts prefer to find settlements between the debtor and the creditor.
2.2. Required documents
In order to apply the legal dunning procedure, Cosmopolite Collections require copies of the contract, invoices and statements indicating payments and credit notes, which have been paid against the outstanding monies.
In the case of a regular lawsuit procedure, copies of all contractual documentation should be available starting with the contract, orders, order confirmations, delivery notes and invoices.
Every step of the relationship between both parties should be provable by documentation. In case of dispute, all notes of conversations between the creditor and the debtor should be kept and given to our lawyers.
In case of verbal negotiations, we require the visit or negotiation reports and names of any witnesses.
2.3. Legal dunning procedure
The Austrian legal dunning procedure is a one-step procedure for payment claims up to EUR 75,000.
The outcome is the payment order (‘Zahlungsbefehl’). For claims up to EUR 10,000, the local court is the competent court.
And for claims exceeding EUR 10,000, the district court is the competent one. The court releases a limited payment order (‘bedingter Zahlungsbefehl’) to be served to the debtor.
The debtor can object to it within four weeks after delivery or pay the principal amount plus interest within 14 days.
If no objection is filed, the limited payment order becomes valid as a final payment order, and the execution can be started. If an objection is filed within the four-week deadline, the process will be transferred into a normal court procedure.
2.4. Lawsuit in Austria
The regular lawsuit procedure is initiated either directly after the amicable collection has failed due to a dispute by the debtor or directly following the legal dunning procedure after the debtor has appealed.
Usually a written pre-procedure is issued. Both the plaintiff and the defendant exchange opinions and proofs by letter until the judge is confident of having all the relevant information needed in order to judge.
In this case, a hearing is scheduled where both parties have to be present. After the oral hearing, the judge sets a date to publish the final judgment. The parties will be informed about the outcome in writing by the responsible court.
2.5. Debt collection costs in Austria
The regular lawsuit procedure is initiated either directly after the amicable collection has failed due to a dispute by the debtor or directly following the legal dunning procedure after the debtor has appealed. Usually a written pre-procedure is issued.
Both the plaintiff and the defendant exchange opinions and proofs by letter until the judge is confident of having all the relevant information needed in order to judge.
In this case, a hearing is scheduled where both parties have to be present. After the oral hearing, the judge sets a date to publish the final judgment. The parties will be informed about the outcome in writing by the responsible court.
2.6. Expected time frame
The average duration of a legal dunning process is between eight and 12 weeks, whereas a court procedure can take up to 12 months or longer depending on the complexity of the case and the availability of the judge and lawyers on all sides.
2.7. Interest and costs in the legal phase
Extrajudicial interest and costs can be claimed as part of the outstanding amount during the legal proceedings.
Court costs and lawyers’ costs are also chargeable to the debtor when a judgment is made in favour of the creditor.
In the case of a legal settlement, the parties bear the costs of the corresponding proceedings in proportion to their prevailing or failing.
3. Insolvency proceedings
3.1. General information
The insolvency procedures in Austria changed in 2010. The new law is called the Insolvency Code (‘Insolvenzordnung’). The German version of this law can be found here: http://www.ris.bka.gv.at/
3.2. Proceedings
The central procedure is still the ‘Zwangsausgleich’, or the reorganisation plan. This is a special procedure where the debtor has to offer a minimum dividend of 20% to their creditors, which must be paid within two years. More than half of the creditors must agree on the reorganisation plan.
The majority of these creditors must settle on a minimum of 50% of the total outstanding amount. Both conditions (the majority of creditors and the majority of outstanding amounts) must apply, and the court finally decides upon it.
The insolvency procedure takes from two to 12 months. The dividend payment can take up to two years.
The average dividend in Austria is about 10%. An insolvency procedure can be managed by a lawyer, the three privileged creditor associations – KSV, AKV and Creditreform – or the creditors themselves.
3.3. Required documents
In order to lodge a claim, Cosmopolite Collections require:
- An original power of attorney
- Copies of invoices
- Copies of contracts
- Copies of orders, order confirmations and delivery notes
- Copies of general conditions of sales, should there be any
- Copies of any other correspondence that may verify the claim.
3.4. Expected time frame and outcome
The deadline to lodge claims is usually around one to three months, depending on the complexity of the procedure, and starts from the adjunction order (‘Insolvenzeröffnungsbeschluss’).
Collecting business debts in Austria can be a challenging process for foreign businesses, especially if they are unfamiliar with Austrian laws and procedures. There are a few specificities that foreign businesses should be aware of when collecting debts in Austria:
- The capital city of Austria is Vienna.
- Austria is divided into 9 states.
- The government of Austria is a federal parliamentary republic.
- The official language of Austria is German.
- The currency of Austria is the Euro.
- There are a number of debt collection agencies in Austria, and the industry has existed in the country for many years.
- The national credit bureau in Austria is the Creditreform. Some of the private credit reporting companies in Austria include Schufa, Creditreform, and Equifax.
- Debt collection laws in Austria are generally the same countrywide, although there may be some local variations.
There are several benefits to using commercial debt collection services in Austria:
- Expertise in Austrian debt collection laws and procedures.
- The ability to communicate with debtors in German.
- A network of local debt collection agents.
- Experience negotiating settlements and payment plans.
- Professional and respectful approach to debt collection.
- Timely and efficient debt recovery process.
- Regular updates and transparent communication.
- A high success rate in recovering debts.
Our debt recovery agency has a very high success rate in Austria thanks to our multilingual debt collectors located in the country and our 24/7 online debt recovery report website. We have local debt collection managers in the main cities of Vienna, Salzburg, and Graz.
