Small invoices, big hassle: is debt collection worth it for small amounts?

Is there a minimum amount for debt collection?

No. Neither the German Civil Code (BGB) nor the Legal Services Act (RDG) sets a lower limit. An unpaid invoice for 35 euros is legally just as much a claim as one for 35,000 euros. You may send reminders, hand it over to a collection agency and, if necessary, pursue it with a court payment order (Mahnbescheid). The court payment procedure has no minimum amount either.

Limits are often set by collection agencies themselves. Some only accept claims above a certain amount, require a minimum annual volume or tie you into a framework contract. At incaseof.law there is no minimum volume; instructions are given under the general terms and conditions, and a single due, undisputed invoice is enough.

Small amounts are rarely isolated cases. An online retailer, a practice or a trades business often has dozens of items between 50 and 300 euros outstanding. Individually, chasing them hardly pays off; together they add up to a noticeable sum. And customers quickly notice whether small invoices have consequences with you.

Here is how to proceed: filter your open items below 500 euros and mark all those more than 30 days overdue. That is your candidate pile.

What may debt collection cost for small amounts?

If the customer is in default, they must compensate you for the damage caused by the late payment. This includes the costs of a collection agency. In Germany, however, these costs are capped: under the Legal Services Act, the creditor can claim from the debtor no more than a lawyer would receive for the same work under the Lawyers’ Remuneration Act (RVG).

For undisputed claims, the RVG sets two further limits. More than a 0.9 fee is only permitted if the matter was particularly extensive or difficult. If the customer pays within two weeks of the first payment demand, it is generally a simple case, and only a 0.5 fee may be charged. On top of that comes an expenses allowance of 20 per cent of the fee, capped at 20 euros.

The full fee for a value of up to 500 euros is 51.50 euros. For collecting undisputed claims of up to 50 euros, a reduced full fee of 31.50 euros applies. This results in the following caps:

All amounts are net and include the expenses allowance. These costs are borne by the defaulting debtor, not by you. If a collection agency and a lawyer act one after the other, you are only reimbursed in total what would have arisen with a single lawyer. The collection cost calculator shows how a part payment is allocated to costs, interest and principal.

Why the first reminder is your job

Only costs incurred after default has begun are recoverable. The invoice and the reminder that first triggers default belong to your own receivables management. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) confirmed this in 2025. It also held, however: once the customer is in default, the creditor may as a rule bring in a collection company or a lawyer even in simple cases.

For you this means: put the customer in default with a reminder and a specific deadline. Once the deadline has passed, handing the claim over is the sensible next step. A template with deadlines is available in our guide to writing a payment reminder.

What applies to small amounts between businesses?

If your customer is not a consumer, you are additionally entitled to a lump sum of 40 euros in the event of default, even on an invoice for 60 euros. However, the lump sum is offset against legal enforcement costs. If you hand the claim over to a collection agency, the 40 euros are therefore not added on top but set off against the collection costs.

Late-payment interest comes on top. Since 1 July 2026 the base rate has been 1.52 per cent. Between businesses, late-payment interest is therefore 10.52 per cent a year, and 6.52 per cent for consumers. For small amounts that is only cents to a few euros: 120 euros yield 2.08 euros of interest in 60 days between businesses and 1.29 euros with consumers.

With business customers, factor in the 40 euros when you decide whether to chase a small claim yourself.

Example: 120 euros, chase it yourself or hand it over?

Example: a bicycle workshop has charged a private customer 120 euros for a repair. Payment term 14 days, no payment. The workshop works out honestly what three rounds of its own reminders cost.

Anyone who chases the claim themselves invests one and a half hours in a claim for 120 euros. The customer does not reimburse their working time; for your own reminders, the Federal Court of Justice only accepts material costs such as printing, envelope and postage. More than half of the claim is used up internally before it is even clear whether the customer will pay.

With a handover, the work is limited to the first reminder and the upload. The collection costs, at most 55.62 euros net in this example, are borne by the defaulting customer. In regular out-of-court collection there are no costs from incaseof.law, even if the debtor does not pay, and no success fee on your principal claim. Court fees and, in Austria, MANZ transmission fees only arise once you approve court proceedings.

If the customer were a business, the workshop would also be entitled to the 40-euro lump sum. Even that does not fully cover the internal effort of three rounds of reminders, and on a later handover it is offset against the collection costs. Rework this example with your own hourly rate. From the second reminder onwards, the numbers almost always tip.

When is debt collection not worth it for small amounts?

There are cases in which a handover makes no sense. Check these points before you hand over a small item:

• The customer disputes the work. Resolve complaints first. No reputable collection agency takes on disputed claims.
• The claim is a booking error. Residual amounts from early-payment discounts, rounding or misallocated payments belong in accounting, not in collection.
• The debtor has moved without a forwarding address. Without an address for service, every further stage gets expensive. Keep the last known address and all contact details ready.
• Insolvency proceedings are under way. Then you file the claim in the insolvency proceedings instead of collecting it.
• You deliberately want to show goodwill. That is a business decision. Make it consciously and on record, not by letting things slide.

Keep limitation in mind: small invoices also usually become time-barred after three years at the end of the year. Anyone who lets small items pile up for years risks customers invoking limitation on the oldest ones, so they can no longer be enforced.

How do you hand over many small claims at once?

Small claims become worthwhile when you hand them over at a fixed rhythm, for example once a month. You need this information for every item:

• the customer’s full name or company name and current address
• invoice number, invoice date, amount and due date
• proof of performance, such as a delivery note, order or order confirmation
• your reminder with date and deadline, so that default is documented
• part payments and credit notes, so that only the genuine balance is handed over
• known objections from the customer, even if you consider them unfounded

With only a few items, you enter each case individually in the client portal. For larger volumes, a connector from your accounting software or a REST interface handles the handover, and you receive the status back by webhook. Set a fixed internal rule, for example “every undisputed invoice still open two weeks after the reminder deadline is handed over”.

How does the handover work at incaseof.law?

incaseof.law is a licensed debt collection institute in Austria, registered in Germany. You register in the client portal, enter the debtor, amount and due date, and upload the invoice and supporting documents. Due, undisputed claims with documented payment default are accepted, with no minimum volume, so small amounts too.

The case team decides on the reminder stages. 100 % of the principal claim goes to you; there is no success fee on the principal. The defaulting debtor bears the default costs within the legally permitted limits. Recovery and duration are not guaranteed. What the model means in detail is set out on the pricing page.

If the customer does not pay in response to the out-of-court process either, court proceedings such as a court payment order are only initiated after your approval; the case team clarifies the procedural route and any required representation with you case by case. There are no automatic court filings. For claims up to 1,000 euros, the court fee for the payment order procedure is currently 38 euros, which the debtor ultimately has to reimburse as well. The court-fee calculator shows the amount for your case. You start the next step under submit a claim. What you may charge for your own reminders before the handover is explained in our article Reminder fees: how much is allowed?.