Agencia de recobro en Portugal - Honorarios a éxito

Paso 1 - ¿Cómo funciona el cobro de deudas amistoso (prejudicial) en Portugal?

Pre-legal collection recovers an unpaid invoice without a lawsuit, through reminders, a formal demand and negotiation. For commercial debts, late-payment interest under Decreto-Lei n.º 62/2013 accrues automatically once payment is overdue, currently 10,15% a year (the European Central Bank reference rate plus 8 percentage points, for the first half of 2026), plus a fixed 40 euro recovery-cost compensation. The aim is full payment or a written acknowledgement of the debt.

Conduct rules during amicable collection in Portugal

Consumer-protection law (Lei n.º 24/96) and the unfair-commercial-practices regime (Decreto-Lei n.º 57/2008) restrict collection conduct: no unwanted home visits once the debtor has asked the collector to leave, no persistent unsolicited contact intended to wear the debtor down, and no threats of legal action the collector does not actually intend or is not entitled to take. ASAE (the Economic and Food Safety Authority) enforces these rules.

Cuándo recurrir a los tribunales en Portugal

Escalate when the demand lapses, the debtor disputes without substance, or a limitation period approaches. A commercial debt up to 15.000 euro usually goes first to the injunção or a Julgado de Paz.

Paso 2 - ¿Cómo se obtiene un título ejecutivo en Portugal?

To enforce a debt you need a título executivo (enforceable title). Portugal's main route for commercial debts up to 15.000 euro is the injunção, with a declaratory action, AECOP or the Julgados de Paz available for other claims.

El procedimiento monitorio (injunção)

The creditor files an injunção (Decreto-Lei n.º 269/98) electronically with the Balcão Nacional de Injunções (BNI, the National Payment Orders Office), and it is served on the debtor. The debtor then has 15 days to pay or oppose (oposição). If the debtor does not oppose, the judicial secretary affixes a fórmula executória (enforceability formula), and the injunção becomes a título executivo without a court judgment ever being issued, under Código de Processo Civil article 703. If the debtor opposes, the matter converts to a declaratory action.

Declaratory and AECOP proceedings

Disputed claims proceed as a declaratory action (ação declarativa) before the judicial courts, ending in a judgment that is itself an enforceable title. For claims up to 15.000 euro that follow the ordinary declaratory route, the Ação Especial para Cumprimento de Obrigações Pecuniárias (AECOP, a special procedure for enforcing monetary obligations) applies, and a lawyer is not mandatory for claims up to 5.000 euro.

Determinación del tribunal competente en Portugal

The injunção is centralised nationally at the BNI; contested claims follow the ordinary rules of value and the defendant's domicile, splitting between the Instância Local (up to 50.000 euro) and the Instância Central Cível (above that threshold). Claims up to 15.000 euro can alternatively go to a Julgado de Paz. Mind the applicable limitation period throughout.

Más sobre los procedimientos judiciales en Portugal

Orden Europea de Pago y Juicio verbal

For cross-border EU claims, the European Payment Order and the European Small Claims Procedure are available alongside the domestic injunção; see cross-border debt collection in Portugal below.

Paso 3 - ¿Cómo funciona la Ejecución de sentencia de deudas en Portugal?

With a título executivo, you enforce it through the ação executiva (enforcement action, Código de Processo Civil, Book IV), conducted by an agente de execução (enforcement agent) under judicial supervision. The creditor (exequente) files a requerimento executivo (enforcement petition) attaching the título executivo, and selects the measures that match the debtor's (executado) known assets.

Formas de ejecutar una reclamación en Portugal

• Attachment (penhora): the enforcement agent attaches the debtor's assets, including bank accounts and receivables, subject to a proportionality principle: some assets are protected regardless of value (article 736), some can only be seized if the debtor has no other suitable assets (article 737), and others, including wages, are seizable only above a protected threshold (article 738).
• Sale of assets: attached movable and immovable property is sold, typically by electronic auction, and the proceeds are applied to the debt.
• Wage garnishment: wages above the legally protected minimum can be attached on an ongoing basis until the claim, interest and costs are paid.
• Asset search: the enforcement agent consults public and financial databases (land registry, vehicle registry, bank and tax records) to locate the debtor's assets before choosing which measure to use.

El proceso de Ejecución de sentencia en Portugal

The creditor files the enforcement action with the título executivo, the agente de execução attaches assets, and proceeds are applied first to the enforcement costs, then interest, then principal, with any surplus returned to the debtor. Enforcement generally moves faster against debtors with identifiable bank accounts or wages than against those whose only assets are real property, which requires a formal sale process. The agente de execução is regulated by the Ordem dos Solicitadores e dos Agentes de Execução (OSAE), Portugal's professional body for solicitors and enforcement agents, and acts under the supervision of the court hearing the enforcement action.

Cobro de deudas transfronterizo en Portugal

For a claim against a debtor elsewhere in the EU, the European Payment Order (Regulation 1896/2006) and the European Small Claims Procedure (Regulation 861/2007, for claims up to 5.000 euro) offer uniform routes, and a Portuguese judgment is recognised and enforced across member states under the Brussels I bis Regulation (1215/2012) without a separate exequatur.

European Payment Order applications against a Portuguese debtor are centralised at the Juízo Central Cível do Tribunal da Comarca do Porto (the Central Civil Court of the Porto District Court) and must be filed in Portuguese. European Small Claims Procedure cases are handled by the ordinary local and general civil courts, with fees of 102 euro for claims up to 2.000 euro and 204 euro for claims from 2.001 to 5.000 euro; appeals go to a Tribunal da Relação within 30 days.