If you have not voluntarily paid your debt to a business, the creditor or debt collection agency will take the matter to court to get a court order (grounds for debt recovery) to collect the debt with the involvement of authorities.
The court will send you an application for summons made by the debtor. You need to respond to the application for summons only if you consider the amount claimed by the debtor to be incorrect or that you are not responsible for the debt in question. The matter is handled by mail and the court will only arrange an oral hearing if you present justified and relevant claims regarding the matter.
The court will order you to pay the entire amount at once. It is not possible to petition the court to pay the debt in instalments. Negotiate with the debtor or with the debt collection agency to whom the matter has been transferred.
Legal fees increase the amount due by 260-360 euros. Legal fees are determined based on the creditor's request. However, they are limited to either the basic rate or an increased rate based on the amount of debt.
A debt recovery order by the court results in a bad credit record.
Public payments such as fines, taxes, municipal parking fees, TV licence fees, mandatory insurance payments, health centre payments and other social services customer fees are subject to debt recovery without a court order.
An unpaid fine may be changed to imprisonment by the court. This is not a case of unpaid debt, but rather a case of punishment.
When the debtor has transferred the debt to collection by debt recovery, you will receive a collection letter from the debt recovery officer. Contact the debt recovery officer to negotiate a payment plan.