Don't let Outstanding Invoices in Italy or Spain Risk your Business

All businesses require the timely payment of their invoices, money is the life-blood of any business, late payments can derail the most viable of organisations. Concerns about finances can place an unbearable pressure the business owner, who may be obliged to devote too much time away from the main activities of the business trying to persuade the clients to pay the outstanding invoices; any business will be damaged by customers who extend their credit without warning.

Such a situation is made considerably more difficult if the debt is owed overseas. Foreign debt collection can be one of the most challenging areas for companies doing cross-border business. Asking for money owed can often be an uncomfortable process; your customer may have a temporary problem and be able to resolve the situation fairly quickly, however a protracted and unexplained delay in payment is unacceptable. If you choose to attempt to resolve the matter initially without recourse to the courts through a third party in an amicable way with a solution that suits all parties a lawyer is a good choice as the defaulting customer will be keenly aware that legal action can be taken swiftly if there is no resolution.

Successful debt collection strategies can vary from country to country and understanding the culture, expectations and speaking to your debtor in their own the language can make a significant difference to the likelihood of being paid. 

Giambrone has debt collection teams in each of its European offices and legal knowledge together with local knowledge has proved to be a successful combination. We have an impressive collection rate and have successfully assisted a number of businesses to recover money owed across Europe. We always aim to settle out of court if at all possible to limit the legal costs and vary our mediation strategies to match the culture of the country to obtain the best possible outcome for our clients. Inevitably there will always be occasions where there has to be recourse to the courts as a last resort and our robust litigation lawyers will pursue your debtors vigorously through the courts, using all the options available to compel your customer to pay the outstanding amount due.

A well-drafted contract is fundamental to successful debt recovery and contracts should be reviewed regularly to ensure that your terms of business are still relevant and enforceable. In the event of a dispute, your opponents may be able to avoid settlement if your contract is outdated or refers to law that has been changed. Also, a key question for any legal action is jurisdiction, as there may be the potential for very different results arising from different jurisdictions. Another precaution that may assist in avoiding customers that fail to pay their debts is to undertake due diligence on all your customers to ensure that they are in a position to pay their debts, at least at the time that you first do business together.

There are many legal tactics available to recover debt from reluctant customers in Europe, the uncertainty that still surrounds Brexit and how that will affect commercial activities may suggest that it could be expedient to recover your Italian and Spanish debts sooner rather than later as it may prove to be a far more difficult and convoluted process in the future without the overarching European Union directives and agreements.

If you would like to know more about collecting your unpaid invoices in Italy or Spain please click here.