International collection
You know how it is: delivery abroad. Invoice. No payment. Reminder. And then, usually, that’s when it starts: a reply to your reminder letter in a foreign language, a different legal system and physical distance between you and the debtor. These challenges can bring your colleagues in the receivables management team to their metaphorical limits.
Due to our overseas legal debt recovery service in cooperation with local overseas partners, S/F/G can offer you a fast, individualised processing of your receivables.
Adrian Bayh, Managing Director S/F/G
Overseas debt collection makes its own rules
In an overseas debt collection situation, you are faced with many different challenges.
- How do you get over the language barrier??
- What are your options to determine who your overseas debtor is?
- How do I find out whether my overseas debtor is solvent?
- What are the legal framework conditions I have to abide by in cases overseas?
- How do you legally enforce a claim in a different country?
- What costs are you liable for when enforcing a claim overseas?
Every country has its own laws, which often make the difference in whether a debt can be collected or not. This means it is particularly important to have a local partner in an overseas debt collection situation, with the necessary experience and vital know-how to be ultimately able to enforce your outstanding receivable successfully. This is why, when we are looking for partners to work with, we make a point of working only with partners who can demonstrate that they have the expertise and meet our own quality requirements.
An important point of our quality requirements is seamless communication with our partners. In other countries in particular, communication channels often take more time than they do in Germany. For this reason, we and our partners make every effort to improve and develop these communication channels. Our partners report back to us every month on the status of your claims. This allows us to guarantee the information flow to you and ensures full transparency, even when the debt to be collected is in a different country.
As our clients often entrust us with highly specific personal data, it is our duty to comply with the requirements of data protection law. We also expect our foreign partners to comply with the local valid data protection requirements.
For international receivables management, processing often proves more expensive than in Germany. This is often because there is a different underlying legal system. Recovery is frequently more cost-intensive than at home. Due to our many years’ experience in overseas debt collection and our local network of partners, we are able to let our customers know in advance how much the procedure will cost and make individualised recommendations. This creates the basis for allowing our customers to make economic decisions.
The service we offer you comprises all global debt recovery options. We would be pleased to advise you on pre-trial, judicial and post-litigation measures in individual cases, or make advance decisions that place emphasis on the economic viability of individual cases.
How to effectively recover your receivables abroad
Securing overseas claims with contractual provisions
There are two contractual clauses that your contract should never be without. German law must be specified as the applicable law. You should also specify the court of jurisdiction at the place where your company is located.
Keeping your customers’ address and communication information up to date
Major problems can arise if your debtor’s contact details are incorrect or no longer correct. Proper master data management can do much to avoid this in advance. But if it still turns out that your debtor has moved on and cannot be found, a lot depends on how the courts, company registers and databases are organised in that country.
Instructing an international debt collection company
In the event of a bad debt, it is important to have a partner with the optimum debt collection processes in that country at its fingertips. You should know exactly what the current processing status of your receivable is and have an active exchange of information.
Keeping an eye on debt collection costs overseas
Recovery costs overseas can mount up very quickly. Legal or court costs abroad can be much higher than they are in Germany. The cost-effectiveness ratio has to make sense, which is why you need a partner who can make clear to you in advance the costs you’re likely to incur and your chances of success.
Global debt collection network
Co-founder of the bailiff network CONNEXX
Along with bailiffs from four other European countries, we founded the network CONNEXX in 2009. We now have nearly 20 partners from across Europe.
Global network of debt collection companies
In order to offer our customers global debt collection services, we have been working with a leading network of debt collection companies for more than 10 years.
Direct partners for special-focus countries
In countries with a particular focus through our customers, we have built close, long-term business relations with partners from all over the world.
