Chasing a non-paying customer: from reminder to bailiff

A customer who doesn't pay on time is annoying, but common. Following a fixed step-by-step approach not only increases the chance you'll still get paid, but also prevents you from making mistakes with the legal rules around formal notices and collection costs.

Step 1: a friendly reminder

If the payment term has only just passed, start with a short, friendly reminder. A missed payment is often simply a case of forgetting or an administrative error on the customer's part. Mention the invoice number, the amount, and the original due date, and give a new, short deadline to pay.

Step 2: the official formal notice (14-day letter)

If the customer doesn't respond to the reminder, the official formal notice follows. For private customers (consumers), you're legally required to first send a formal notice with an additional payment term of at least 14 days, before you're allowed to charge collection costs. Explicitly state in this letter what the consequences will be if payment isn't made within that term, including the amount of collection costs you'll then charge.

For business customers (B2B), this statutory 14-day letter isn't mandatory, but it's good practice to follow the same step regardless — it keeps the relationship professional and transparent.

Statutory collection costs

For collections from consumers, the level of collection costs is fixed by law via a tiered percentage of the principal amount, with a statutory minimum. For business customers you have more freedom to agree this contractually, for example through your terms and conditions or an agreed interest rate for late payment.

Always check the current tiered scale and the applicable minimum amount for collection costs against the official regulation, and include it correctly in your formal notice — an incorrectly calculated amount can give a judge reason to (partly) reject the claim.

Step 3: engaging a debt collection agency

If the formal notice hasn't produced any result either, you can transfer the claim to a debt collection agency. They take over further contact with the customer, often on a no-cure-no-pay basis or for a fixed fee. For many self-employed professionals this is a welcome intermediate step: it saves time and energy, and an independent party often applies more pressure than you can yourself.

Step 4: bailiff and court proceedings

If payment still doesn't follow, the final step is legal proceedings via a bailiff, possibly followed by a case before the subdistrict court (for smaller amounts) or the civil court. This route costs more time and money, but does give you an enforceable title with which the bailiff can seize the customer's wages, bank account, or possessions.

Prevention is better than chasing payment

A few simple measures significantly reduce the risk of non-payment:

• Ask for a (partial) advance payment on larger assignments
• Set out a clear payment term and your collection policy in your terms and conditions
• Send automatic payment reminders before the due date, not only after it
• Offer multiple payment methods, such as iDEAL, to lower the barrier to paying

FactuurMakenOnline sends automatic reminders and formal notices at the moments you set, so you never have to monitor this manually.