Debt Collection Agency Switzerland
Amicable Debt Collections Switzerland
1. General information
Cosmopolite Collections follow a collection process that is professional at all times with the objective of retaining the relationships between our clients and their debtors whenever possible.
Our staff of collection professionals carry out the first collection tier in-house. We relentlessly pursue debtors verbally and in writing within the bounds of federal and state laws.
1.2. Local agents
At the present time, we cannot offer a field service for visiting debtors in Switzerland. Services are operated from our office in Germany.
1.3. Interest
Cosmopolite Collections always charge interest to debtors. It is calculated either based on the contractual agreement between the client and the debtor or based on the legal interest rate of 5% per year. From a cultural point of view, Swiss debtors consider paying interest a matter of negotiation.
1.4. Debt Collection Costs Switerland
Debt collection costs are charged to debtors. They are calculated on the basis of the recommendation of the Swiss Debt Collection Union.
The collection costs represent the claim of the client to the debtor based on the payment delay of the debtor and include the interest and costs resulting from the late payment.
Cosmopolite Collections forward all recovered debt collection costs to our client to reduce the claim, retain the costs or add them to the success fees.
This depends fully on the contractual debt collection agreement between the client and Cosmopolite Collections.
2. Legal Collections Switzerland
2.1. General information
It must be noted that Swiss law demands a pre-legal summons to debtors in order to be able to pursue them in a regular legal proceeding. Details can be found under ‘Legal dunning procedure’.
2.2. Required documents
In order to apply the legal dunning procedure, Cosmopolite Collections need copies of the contract, invoices and a clear statement of account indicating payments and credit notes that have been booked regarding the outstanding invoices.
In the case of a regular lawsuit procedure, copies of the complete contractual documentation should be available starting with the contract, orders, order confirmations, delivery notes and invoices. Basically every step of the trading relationship should be provable by documentation.
In case of dispute, proof of conversations between the creditor and the debtor should also be kept and provided to our lawyers. In the case of verbal negotiations, we need the visit or negotiation reports and the names of the witnesses.
2.3. Legal dunning procedure
Before the creditor can sue the debtor, mandatory prelegal actions have to be initiated before the administrative official debt collection authority, called Office des Poursuites or Betreibungsamt.
The office notifies the debtor of a summons (‘Zahlungsbefehl’) to pay within 20 days or to mount opposition (‘Rechtsvorschlag’) within ten days.
If no payment is made or there is no opposition, the creditor can request the debt collection office to attach the debtor’s assets, or a bankruptcy petition can be filed if the debtor is a legal person or a merchant.
The costs of this part of the legal proceedings cannot be charged to the debtor.
2.4. Lawsuit
The regular lawsuit is either initiated after opposition to the legal dunning procedure or directly in complex cases.
In this situation, a summons is served to the plaintiff and a conciliation hearing is scheduled where the actions can be requested. After this, written submissions to court are exchanged to the parties.
A further hearing is scheduled, after which a judgment is issued based on the evidence gathered during the whole procedure.
2.5. Debt Collection Costs Switzerland
In Switzerland, the lawyers’ fees are quite high and generally calculated on an hourly basis, with the fees dependent on the seniority of the lawyer handling the case.
Court costs can also represent a substantial percentage of the claim, between 5% and 10% or more depending on the case.
Costs may vary from canton to canton. All this means that the cost aspect should be seriously taken into consideration before starting an ordinary procedure in Switzerland.
A cost estimation will be provided for each individual case should legal action becomes necessary.
2.6. Expected time frame
Four to six months are required before execution in the procedure before the debt collection office, providing that no opposition is mounted.
Execution takes another three to six months or more. The summary procedure to lift opposition can last more than six months plus execution.
Ordinary proceedings can last from one to three years or even longer depending on the case.
2.7. Interest and costs in the legal phase
Court costs are generally chargeable to the debtor if the case is won, but not the attorneys’ fees.
These depend upon the judge’s decision as to whether the debtor bears them in full, partially or not at all.
3. Insolvency proceedings
3.1. General information
The aim of the insolvency proceedings is to pay out all creditors with the same quota by liquidating the assets of the debtor company or collecting the enforceable income of the individual who is declared bankrupt.
3.2. Proceedings
The aim of the insolvency proceedings is to pay out all creditors with the same quota by liquidating the assets of the debtor company or collecting the enforceable income of the individual who is declared bankrupt.
3.3. Required documents
In order to lodge a claim, the following documents are needed:
- 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, if there are any
- Copies of any other correspondence that may verify the claim.
3.4. Expected time frame and outcome
The whole duration of an insolvency procedure is between one and five years. In case of a moratorium, dividends of around 20% to 25% can be expected.
