Commercial debt collection recovers money owed between businesses. It operates under commercial law — not consumer protection law — which provides creditors with more powerful tools, fewer restrictions, and access to specialised commercial courts.
The debtor is a business entity, not a vulnerable individual. This distinction matters legally: commercial courts (Tribunal de Commerce in France, Handelsgericht in Switzerland) apply different standards. Enforcement tools are broader — winding-up petitions, commercial asset seizure, director liability claims. And regulatory restrictions on collection activity are significantly lighter than in consumer markets.
Verification. Confirm debtor corporate status, check statute of limitations, assess solvency through commercial credit reports. Demand. Formal demand in the debtor's language, citing local enforcement mechanisms. Amicable collection. Phone contact, negotiation, payment plan structuring. Resolves 50-70% of claims under 12 months. Legal escalation. Fast-track payment orders (Mahnverfahren, monitorio, IOS, injonction de payer) for undisputed claims. Full litigation for disputed ones. Enforcement. Bank seizure, asset attachment, insolvency proceedings.
Contingency: 15-25% amicable, 25-35% litigated. The creditor pays nothing unless the agency recovers. Court costs and legal fees are additional for litigated claims but frequently recoverable from the debtor.
Recovery probability drops 8-12% per month of delay after the due date. At 12 months, you recover less than half of what you'd recover at 90 days. The optimal engagement window: 60-90 days past due. Earlier is better. Later costs money.
Our debt recovery agency with over 21 years of experience provides: Business to Business Collections Services, Legal Debt Collections and worldwide Skip Tracing services.
