Top-Rated Debt Collection Agency in Austria
Fast and reliable debt collection in Austria - no upfront costs, only pay for success. Request a FREE Consultation or upload your claim today.
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Recover your debt in Austria easily.
Debitura specializes in debt recovery services in Austria. Our team of experienced professionals provides a range of comprehensive services, such as accounts receivables management, debt collection notices, pre-legal and legal debt collection, as well as enforcement court proceedings. With our deep knowledge of Austria's debt collection laws and regulations, we offer efficient and effective solutions to help organizations recover outstanding debts.
From beginning to end, we provide committed assistance.
Tailored debt recovery approach.
We have a team of over 500 proficient professionals who specialize in collecting debts on an international scale.
Our success rate of 87% comes at an exceptionally affordable cost.
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PRIME LAW Attorneys at Law is a law firm located in the heart of Vienna, the capital of Austria. To ensure that your law is competently represented in all areas, with PRIME LAW Attorneys at Law you can rely on our expertise and on our exclusive Private Client Service. Enjoy the strategic advantages of a first-class all-round service, with which your legal, judicial and regulatory problems are efficiently solved.
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My law firm offers legal support to a variety of different clients including litigation.
Our law firm has been handling claims for clients in Austria and with partner law firms in the European Union area for many years.
The ultimate guide about debt collection in Austria
If you have money that you are owed from a business or customer in Austria, we can help you get your money back! We have experience helping other businesses in Austria get their debt repaid, and we can help you too.
It can be difficult to collect a debt in Austria. This is because there are barriers like language and cultural differences, different laws and customs, and being far away.
It is easier to get your money back when you use a collection agency that knows the laws and customs of the country where the person who owes you money lives.
At Debitura, we care about people. We try to get your money back while still being fair to the customer. This way, we can keep a good relationship with them. Our PR efforts are firm but fair- meaning that we will always put your reputation first!
If you want to learn how to collect debt yourself in Austria, keep reading this guide. It will tell you everything you need to know. If you would rather work with a law firm that collects debt in Austria, we can help you with that too.
At Debitura, we make it easy to collect your debt in Austria and other countries. To get started, upload your claim today. We will review your case within 24 hours and provide you with 3 free quotes from local debt collection lawyers in Austria. We work hard to get results while maintaining good relationships with our customers. We use the latest technology to help us contact people and manage our work. We have a lot of friends in different places who help us do our job. We call them our network. They include debt collectors, attorneys, suppliers, and vendors. We like all of them and think they are important, no matter how big or small their part is.
Upload claim
Begin the debt collection process in Austria today without any charges. Simply create a free profile and upload your case in just 2 minutes.
Pre-legal
We will attempt to recover your claim through our proven pre-legal recovery process for the initial 3 months with a 100% no-cure-no-pay policy.
Legal
In case your claim remains unpaid during the pre-legal phase, we offer you three quotes from local debt collection attorneys.
24/7 updates
You get access to our online portal where you can track your case in real-time
Introduction to collecting debt in Austria
Do you have a lot of debt in Austria? Do not worry; we can help you get paid by your Austrian customers.
The person who owes the debt is called the debtor. The person who gave the debt is called the creditor. If the creditor collects the debt, this is called first-party collection. If someone else collects the debt for the creditor, this is called third-party collection.
- Domestic companies usually pay on time, and the EU legal framework provides reliable tools to deal with late payments.
- The court system works well most of the time, but the best way to get money that someone owes you is to hire a specialist.
- Austrian insolvency law is designed to help companies in financial trouble. This gives them a better chance of being able to pay back what they owe. About one third of all companies that file for insolvency are able to successfully reorganize their business and pay back at least 20% of their debts. It is rare for creditors to get their money back if reorganization fails or if bankruptcy proceedings are started. On July 17, 2021, people who are not yet insolvent will have access to a new restructuring procedure ("Restrukturierungsverfahren"). This is an additional way to try to get their money back.
Days Sales Outstanding (DSO)
The payment behaviour of Austrian companies is very good. According to a survey in 2019 by KSV, the leading association for the protection of creditors’ rights, 79,6 % of Austrian companies pay within the stipulated payment terms. Payments in Austria take 29 days on average. However, the DSO for listed companies is longer and has shown a trend increase over the past few years.
Corporate Structures: A Comprehensive Overview
Liability for business debts means that someone is legally responsible for the debts. This may be described as follows:
- Sole Proprietorship is a business that only has one owner. This person is responsible for all the business' activities and debts. This type of business is often used for small businesses because the owner's personal qualities are a big part of the business.
- General partnerships and limited partnerships let people work together, but they have different rules about how much money each person is responsible for if the business loses money. Unless a Limited Partnership is set up, the partners are equally responsible for any debts the business has, even if one partner causes the debt without the others knowing or agreeing to it. The partners agree on their rights and responsibilities in a 'partnership agreement,' but they do not create a new legal entity.
- A Limited Liability Company, or GmbH, is a popular way to set up a business. This is because the shareholders' liability is limited to their capital contribution. This means that they cannot lose more money than they have invested in the company. The minimum capital requirement is EUR 35,000, but this has been reduced to EUR 10,000 for start-ups for the first ten years. Of the requirements, 50% must be paid in cash.
- A Joint-Stock Corporation is a company where shares of the company can be bought and sold on a stock exchange. There is a minimum amount of money required to start this type of company, which is EUR 70,000. A supervisory board, which is a group of people who oversee the company, is also required. Lastly, shareholders' assemblies, which are meetings between the shareholders of the company, have to follow strict rules.
- Foreign businesses that want to move to Austria may set up a Branch Office (Zweigniederlassung). This is when the business has a place in Austria, but it still depends on the parent company. This also means that the business is not responsible for any debts or problems. Another way to do this is by setting up an autonomous subsidiary company. This type of company is called a Limited Liability Company.
- Joint Ventures are a way that people work together on big projects. They agree to work together and each person has a specific job to do. This agreement helps to define what everyone's role is and what they are responsible for.
The debt collection process in Austria
The debt collection process in Austria generally involves several steps.
The image below explains the process we use to collect debt in Austria:
1 Upload your claim:
If you want help with your debt, you will need to find a debt collection partner. You can upload your claim to their website. Debitura can help you by giving you 3 quotes from local partners in the European country where your case is happening. This service is free - you don't have to pay anything.
2 Amicable collection:
The collection process usually starts with sending friendly reminders to the person who owes you money. This is called a "campaign." The reminders go through email, SMS, letter, and any other available communication channels in the specific country. The goal is to get the debtor to pay or acknowledge the debt and start a payment plan. Debitura offers a no-cure-no-pay solution for amicable collection. This means that you only pay a small success fee if we recover your debt. Amicable collections with Debitura are 100% risk-free!
3 Evaluation:
If you have not received payment from the debtor after trying to work it out, it is time to evaluate the next steps. We will look at how much you are owed, the chances of getting paid and other factors to help you decide what to do next. There are three typical next steps:
A Surveillance:
If you are claiming an amount of money that is less than 2,000-5,000 euros, it is not usually worth it to take further legal action. In this case, we recommend "debt surveillance." This means that we will keep trying to contact the person who owes you money and try to reach an agreement about payment.
B: Legal collections:
If you have a big problem that you need help with and think you might need to take legal action, it's a good idea to start a legal process. The specific steps you'll need to take will depend on what kind of problem you have and how big it is. Usually, it takes between one and a year and a half to resolve the problem through this process.
C: Debt enforcement:
If the person you are owed money from has said that they owe you money, or if there is a court order saying they owe you money, you can go to the bailiff's court to get your money.
Debitura can help you with all three steps in Austria.
Amicable collection in Austria
At Debitura, we offer a 100% risk-free and efficient process for Amicable collections. This means that you can submit your claim to us, and we will get started within 24 hours.
We will contact your debtor through different channels in Austria, which might include email, text messages, letters, phone calls, and social media.
The goal of this process is to either:
A) get the debtor to pay the full amount or
B) get the debtor to agree that they owe the money and start a plan to pay it back
If the person you are trying to get money from has disputed your claim, you cannot try to resolve it peacefully. You must start with legal collections.
Late Payment Interest
Interest for late payments may be claimed from the day after the payment is due. In fact, a law that started on March 1, 2013 says that payments in the EU must be made within 60 days. This means that if someone does not pay you on time, you can charge them interest.
The domestic rule is stricter than the EU requirements: in business-to-business transactions, no payment terms should exceed 60 days. In addition, interest on late payments must be calculated by adding at least 9.2% above the base lending rate set by the Austrian National Bank. The applicable base lending rate is established on 1 January and 1 July for each half-year and is currently -0.62% as of 1 July 2021.
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Get started with
amicable debt collection
Upload your claim and get started with our 100% no-cure-no-pay collection solution.
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Legal collection in Austria
If the other person has not paid you back during the friendly phase or if they dispute your claim, we will give you 3 free quotes from our local debt collection attorneys. In the legal phase, our local attorney will reach out to the other person and try to negotiate a payment. Our partners can also go to court and get a payment order from the legal system in Austria. This payment order can then be used to make the other person pay you back via enforcement court.
Ordinary proceedings
If the person you owe money to only wants what you owe them and nothing more, and what you owe them is 75,000 Euros or less, then they can request a Payment Order from the local court. This means that the person will have to pay back the money they owe, plus interest and court fees, within two weeks. These proceedings have been simplified so that people can submit their claims online at a reasonable price. If the person you are suing does not object within four weeks, the Order becomes enforceable immediately by a bailiff. Otherwise, the case will be dealt with on its merits through ordinary legal action. Similarly, when the claim exceeds EUR 75,000, ordinary proceedings must be conducted before the District Court.
If the person who owes money has assets in other European Union countries, there is a procedure that can help get the money back. This is called the European Payment Order. The person who wants the money back can ask the Vienna Commercial Court to issue an Order to Pay. This order can be enforced in all European Union countries except Denmark without any extra court proceedings.
If we can't come to an agreement or if the debtor has questions, we can start legal proceedings. This means that we will send a final demand to the debtor. But if we want, we can also file a claim with the court right away. Then the judge will decide what happens next.
Until December 31, 2021, the court may conduct hearings using technology instead of meeting in person. This is only if all the people involved agree to it.
Tribunals are like a court. They would usually order remedies, which means the winning person gets what they asked for from the losing person. This could be an order to do something (deliver or perform), or it could be a declaratory judgment, which is when the court says if a contract is valid or not. But the courts cannot award punitive damages, which are extra money to punish someone.
Austria has a way to handle arguments between people. This way is called a federal judicial system. It is made up of different kinds of courts that each handle different types of problems. For example, the Kartellgericht deals with competition issues and the Handelsgericht deals with commercial matters in Vienna.
There are four Appellate Courts and three Supreme Courts in Austria. These courts each handle different types of cases: constitutional, administrative, civil, and criminal. The judges in Austria are not bound by precedent, which means they are not limited to making decisions based on past rulings. However, it is common for judges to consider the jurisdiction of the supreme courts when making their decisions.
Sachliche Zuständigkeit means the area a court has power over. Eigenzuständigkeit is when the type of case falls under a certain court's power. Wertzuständigkeit is when the amount of money involved in the case falls under a certain court's power. If a commercial dispute has an amount less than EUR 15,000, it falls under District Courts. If the amount is more than that, it falls under Regional Courts. If the amount is more than EUR 5,000 or if it is at a Regional Court or higher court, then an Austrian attorney-at-law must be present.
Different lawyers charge different prices for their services. To make sure you are getting the best deal, it is recommended that you get quotes from multiple attorneys. Debitura makes this process easy by allowing you to get multiple quotes with just a few clicks.
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legal debt collection
Upload your claim and get 3 FREE quotes from our local collection partners.
Debt enforcement in Austria
If the person you owe money to has written down that they agree to pay you, or if there is a court order, you can go to the bailiff's court in Austria to get your money.
As soon as a judgment becomes final, it can be enforced. If the debtor does not follow the decision, an application for enforcement can be filed with the District Court. This means that the court can order the attachment or seizure of the debtor's assets.
Since July 1, 2021, the person you owe money to can choose what to do to get the money from you. If they tried to get the money from your things or your paycheck and it didn't work, they can ask the court for permission to take some of your things. Other people who you also owe money to can join in and say what they think. The court will decide what happens.
The process and how much it costs varies depending on your situation. You can upload your case onto Debitura to get 3 different quotes within 24 hours.
Get started with
debt enforcement
Upload your claim and get 3 FREE quotes from our local collection partners.
Insolvency proceedings in Austria
If someone owes you money and they cannot pay, you can do something called an insolvency procedure. This means that their things will be sold and the money will be given to the people they owe in order of importance.
- Out-of-court proceedings in Austria have been rarely used because receivers have considered them disadvantageous to the bankrupt debtor’s estate.
- The EU Directive of June 20th, 2019 on preventive restructuring frameworks was introduced with effect from July 17th, 2021.
- The criteria to decide for or against the new procedure may be e.g. high preparation costs, higher approval requirements, better protection against contract changes, no coverage of employee costs by the insolvency compensation fund, creditor structure.
- All types of proceedings under the Insolvency Code are always part of a single unitary procedure.
- If reorganization plan is not accepted by creditors or granted by court, name of proceeding changes in Internet Insolvency Gazette to bankruptcy proceedings (Konkursverfahren).
- In addition, receiver may appeal against various types of transactions concluded over last ten years prior to liquidation date (for instance: transactions favouring one creditor over others; unfair loans; fraudulent transactions).
European Late Payment Directive in Austria
Denmark is in the European Union (EU). That means the Directive 2011/7/EU on combating late payments across Europe in commercial transactions applies to Denmark.
The directive includes the following provisions:
- Public authorities cannot require payment terms of more than 30 days.
- Private companies cannot require payment terms of more than 60 days.
- If the person you lent money to is a business, you can charge them an extra fee of €40 for not paying on time.
- The interest rates for late payments must be at least 8% above the European Central Banks reference rate.
The Danish government cannot make any local rules that would be worse for creditors than the EEU-wide rules that are already in place.
Our analysis concludes that the risk of doing business in Austria is low. Based on this low score, You can feel reasonably confident that you will be able to get paid when trading with customers in Austria. Nonetheless, we always recommend doing a specific credit analysis on an individual customer basis before offering any credit. The low risk score is based on the following factors:
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The economic risk in Austria
Our analysis shows that the economic risk in Austria is very low (1 out of 6). An economic risk of 1 out of 6 is low in Europe.
GDP and economic growth are critical drivers for economic risk.
The GDP of Austria is 477,08 bn. USD (2021), growing by 4,48% per year.
In terms of the size of its economy, Austria ranks #30 out of 183 countries and has a large economy.
Looking at the growth rate, it is ranked #90 out of 183 countries and is therefore considered an excellent growing economy.
GDP per capita is 53268 USD, ranking Austria number #15 out of 183 countries. The result of this is purchasing power of citizens in Austria is high compared to the rest of the world.
You get a more detailed idea of GDP and economic growth in Austria in the table below:
Another significant influencer for the economic risk score is the inflation rate and the interest rates. You get a more detailed idea of monetary KPIs in Austria in the table below:
The inflation in Austria was 2,8% in 2021 which is considered a low inflation rate.
The business environment risk in Austria
Our analysis shows that the business environment risk in Austria is very low (1 out of 6), which is a relatively low risk score in Europe.
The business environment risk are determined by the level of economic freedom and rights in a country. The critical facts for Austria in the table below:
As you can see in the table, the property rights index is 87 in Austria, which is considered quite good in Europe.
The business freedom index is based on 10 indicators, using data from the World Bank’s Doing Business study. The Index is 73 in Austria, a pretty average score for a country in Europe.
Austria's overall economic freedom index is 74 out of 100 and is based on factors such as the rule of law, regulatory efficiency, and market openness.
The political risk in Austria
The political risk in Austria is very low, with a score of 1/6. This is a low political risk score in Europe.
The governance and political stability indicators are critical drivers for political risk. An overview of Austria can be seen in the data below:
The rule of law index analyses to which extent agents have confidence in and abide by the rules of society, in particular the quality of contract enforcement, property rights, the quality of the courts, and the police's ability to enforce court orders.
When doing business in a country, the rule of law index is critical as it describes your ability to enforce commercial contracts.
In Austria, the rule of law index is at 1,79 points, with the score going from -2.5 (weak) to 2.5 (strong). Austria has, therefore, a very high rule of law index, which means you have a very good chance of enforcing your contracts. If your individual customers have good creditworthiness, you should therefore feel relatively safe when providing credit.
Other drivers for the very low political risks are the strong control of corruption, the average political stability index, and the small shadow economy that is 9,01% of Austria's GDP.
The commercial risk in Austria
In Austria, the commercial risk score is 3/4, which in our model is a medium score. This medium commercial risk score is pretty average compared to the average in Europe.
The commercial risk is impacted by a country's international trade relationships. You can see some of the key facts for Austria in the table below:
Austria has a total of foreign exchange reserves of 33.96 bn. USD.
Austria has a positive trade balance of 0,9% of GDP. This means that Austria imports fewer goods and services than the country exports.
The annual growth of exports of goods and services has been growing 12,69% annually - now 55,95% of GDP. Import of goods and services represents 55,04% of the GDP in Austria.
The financing risk in Austria
We have calculated the financing risk to be 1/4, which equals a very low risk. A very low financing risk score is relatively low for countries in Europe.
The country's banking system, efficiency, and stability influence the financing risk. You can find the extra information for Austria in the table below:
In Austria, the credit information sharing index is 7 on a scale from 0 (low) to 8 (high). The result of this is accessibility and quality of credit information available in Austria is medium-high.
This makes it easy for you to understand the credit risk of your counterpart in Austria. You should therefore be able to find a good local credit rating agency that can help you analyse the creditworthiness of your specific customers.
Your legal rights as a creditor (and as a borrower) are 4 out of 12 and, therefore, very weak.
Debt Collection in Austria: Your Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
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The debt collection process in Austria involves several steps. It starts with sending friendly reminders to the debtor and progresses to legal action if necessary. If you have debt in Austria, upload your claim to a debt collection partner who can help you get paid. Amicable collection is risk-free and based on a no-cure-no-pay solution. If legal action is needed, it usually takes between one and a year and a half to resolve the problem. Lastly, debt enforcement can be pursued if there is a court order or admission of debt. Debitura can assist with all three steps of debt collection in Austria.
The debt collection process in Austria involves pre-legal collection, legal debt collection, and debt enforcement. This typically starts with friendly reminders and communication channels to collect the debt. If this doesn't work, the next step is to evaluate further legal action such as debt surveillance, legal collections or debt enforcement. Debitura can help you with all three steps in Austria.
In Austria, if a debt is disputed, a civil lawsuit is required. Legal options for debt collection include debt enforcement proceedings or insolvency proceedings. Legal actions require a local lawyer. Debtors may be required to pay back the money they owe, plus interest and court fees, within two weeks. If we can't come to an agreement or the debtor has questions, we can start legal proceedings. Until December 31, 2021, the court may conduct hearings using technology instead of meeting in person. Different lawyers charge different prices for their services.
Debt collection costs in Austria with Debitura's pre-legal collection are based on a no-cure-no-pay model with a success fee between 10-20%. The cost for legal actions varies according to your case and desired actions. At Debitura, we can provide you with three quotes from the top debt collection lawyers in Austria. Contact us for more information.
The duration of debt collection in Austria varies depending on the debtor and the case. If the case can be resolved in the pre-legal phase, it usually takes 3-6 months. However, if legal actions are necessary, the collection process typically takes 12-18 months.
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