Your First Step, a Formal-Reminder

Before commencing legal action it is recommendable, in some cases even required, to send to your, or your client's, debtor a formal-reminder containing a deadline for payment.

Thereby, the debtor is informed that payment has become overdue and he will have another chance to pay, in case of oversight.

A formal-reminder, such as the model provided by us, serves the purpose of reminding the other party of his obligations under the contract and that you demand payment by a certain date.

Do not write phrases like "payment within two weeks from now".

Specify a particular date, such as "payment July 4 20XX".

Please follow the format rules, as given in the model, i.e. the deadline is stated in a separate paragraph, bold and centered.

Fax your formal-reminder and make sure to keep a transmission receipt. You can also mail your reminder with a signature return. The least advisable method is to email your reminder.

(The rule is that you have to make sure that your reminder has actually reached your debtor. German law refers to a "sphere of influence" concept in this context. You have to bring your reminder within exactly that sphere of influence. That you do by sending it to his fax machine or by mailing it to his postal address. These two options are to be preferred over emailing, as there are fewer elements that could potentially stand in the way of mailing and actually receiving the reminder. )... ****PROBABLY EXCLUDE AGAIN***TOO MUCH AND UNINTERESTING***

After the Formal-Reminder

Once the deadline set in your reminder has passed, without your debtor having balanced his account completely, you may want to consider to submit the claim to us for a first-assessment. See our Step-by-Step list.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us.