An invoice is overdue, the customer is not responding, and you are wondering what the right next move is. We give you the clear order of steps with ready-to-use templates and take over as a licensed debt collection agency confirmed by the Austrian Supreme Court (OGH) as soon as it gets serious. 100% of the claim for you.
The short answer
When an invoice is not paid, work through four stages: first a friendly payment reminder, then a formal reminder, next a final reminder with notice of debt collection, and finally handing the claim to a licensed debt collection agency. That way you recover your money in a structured way and without losing unnecessary time.
One thing matters most: act in good time. An unpaid invoice loses value over time, because the willingness to pay drops and every claim eventually reaches its limitation period. On this page you will learn step by step what you can do yourself, when the effort is worth it, and how incaseof.law as a licensed debt collection agency handles the rest for you, so that 100% of the claim lands in your account.
Why now
An unpaid invoice does not get better by sitting around. With every week your customer's willingness to pay drops, and the risk grows that a simple claim turns into a total loss. The clock starts running the moment the payment deadline has passed.
Shortly after the due date the customer is usually solvent and the claim undisputed. This is when the chance of getting everything back is highest.
After weeks without a reply the customer stalls, pays in installments or stays silent. Every further reminder of your own fizzles out, because it is no longer taken seriously.
The longer you wait, the higher the risk that the customer becomes insolvent or that other creditors get there first. Whoever hands over early stands at the front of the line.
A few days after the due date, friendly and matter-of-fact. Often the invoice has simply slipped through, and the reminder resolves the case, still without costs and without pressure.
Dear Sir or Madam, our invoice [number] for [amount] dated [date] is still open. It has probably slipped through. We kindly ask you to transfer the amount by [new date].
If the reminder has no effect, a formal reminder with a clear deadline follows. Once the deadline passes, your customer is in default, and you can apply default costs.
Dear Sir or Madam, despite our reminder, invoice [number] for [amount] remains open. We set you a final deadline of [date]. After the deadline passes, you are in default.
The last stage on your own: a clear demand with the notice that you will otherwise hand over the claim. It signals that things are getting serious, and resolves further cases.
Dear Sir or Madam, invoice [number] for [amount] remains unpaid despite our reminder. We ask you one final time to pay by [date]. Otherwise we will hand the claim to a licensed debt collection agency. You will bear the costs that arise from this.
If the customer still does not respond, you hand over online to incaseof.law. You upload the unpaid invoice, we collect it as a licensed debt collection agency confirmed by the Austrian Supreme Court (OGH), and 100% of the claim goes to your account.
What happens after you hand overBy industry
The order of steps stays the same, the starting point differs.
For larger contract invoices the structured escalation pays off especially well, because a lot of liquidity is at stake.
Without an accounting team, the templates save time. As soon as a reminder has gone unanswered, you can hand over.
With many unpaid invoices, handing them over in a bundle is the fastest way back to liquidity.
The case where a customer refuses to pay over alleged defects or keeps a subcontractor waiting follows the same order of steps. If the work has been delivered and the claim is justified, you do not have to debate dissatisfaction endlessly. As soon as a reminder has gone unanswered, you can hand over.
Is this already fraud?
In the vast majority of cases an unpaid invoice is not a criminal matter but a civil claim. The customer owes you money, and you have a right to it. A criminal complaint usually does not bring you any closer to your money, it only costs additional time.
It is different when someone never intended to pay from the start and deliberately deceived you, for example by ordering a service even though they already know they will never settle it. Such situations are the exception and hard to prove. For your day-to-day, the rule is: the fastest way to your money is not a complaint, but the consistent enforcement of the claim.
When even that is not enough
Most claims are settled out of court. If that is not enough, things continue in an orderly way, without you having to go to court yourself or file applications. We steer every stage for you.
We demand payment from your customer in writing as a licensed debt collection agency. A large share of cases is already settled here, often within a few weeks.
If the customer does not pay, we initiate the order for payment procedure and have your claim established by the court. It runs digitally and noticeably faster than the classic paper route.
With the court's confirmation, the claim is enforced. You arrange nothing and can check the status anytime in your portal.
The clock is running
Unpaid invoices generally reach their limitation period after several years, counted from the end of the year in which the invoice became due. Once the limitation period applies, your customer can avoid payment, even if the claim is clearly justified. Whoever waits too long risks not being able to enforce their money at all in the end.
The exact period depends on the country and the type of claim and can be shorter or longer in individual cases. For you as a business owner, however, the message is the same regardless of the detail: a claim becomes harder to enforce with every year, and at the end stands the limitation period (statute of limitations). Whoever acts early does not have to think about it.
The best phase. The customer is usually solvent, the claim undisputed. A reminder is often already enough.
If you only get an invoice paid months later, it is still open and enforceable. But the willingness to pay drops noticeably.
The closer the limitation period gets, the tighter time becomes. Enforcing an invoice after 2 or 3 years is possible, but becomes increasingly difficult.
The good thing about it: as soon as you hand the claim over to us, it no longer drifts along unwatched. We keep an eye on the deadlines for you and initiate the next steps in good time, so that your claim stays enforceable. You do not have to remember any date or monitor any deadline yourself.
In practice that means: do not wait for the situation to clear up on its own, because it rarely does. Whoever hands over early secures full ability to act and also stands ahead of other creditors in the line.
Hand over your claim nowRecovery rate
We recover 88% of the claims handed to us. No more weeks of chasing, no more worrying whether anything will come at all. You upload the unpaid invoice, we collect it consistently as a licensed debt collection agency confirmed by the Austrian Supreme Court (OGH), and a large share of cases is already settled out of court, often within a few weeks. The difference comes from the fast, fully digital process that starts the same day, instead of landing in a queue.
Is it worth it?
The most common concerns before handing over, and why they do not matter at incaseof.law.
With a classic debt collection office that needs a contract call and a minimum volume, that is often true. For a small claim the effort puts people off and it simply stays open.
The worry that the costs eat up the claim keeps many from acting. Especially with small amounts the ratio seems wrong.
Writing reminders, chasing by phone, managing deadlines: with many small items, exactly that becomes the real burden.
The fear of damaging a business relationship makes many hesitate, even though the money is clearly missing.
In B2B deals an alleged defect is often used as a pretext to delay payment, even though the work has long been delivered.
Whether 200 euros from a small invoice or 80,000 euros from a project: because the effort for you is minimal and the default costs are borne by the defaulting customer, handing over is worth it even for small and single claims. You do not have to wait until a large amount has built up.
What it costs
At incaseof.law you receive 100% of your claim, with no success fee. You upload the unpaid invoice, we collect it for you. The debt collection costs are borne by the defaulting customer.
What debt collection costsof the claim for you. The debt collection costs are borne by the defaulting customer.
Frequent questions
Start with a payment reminder a few days after the due date, follow up with a reminder and a final reminder with notice of debt collection. If the customer does not respond, hand the claim to a debt collection agency.
As soon as the payment deadline has passed and the customer has not responded. A short payment reminder beforehand is friendlier and often already enough, a formal reminder follows if that too has no effect.
There is no fixed number required. In practice one reminder is enough before you can hand over the claim. More than three reminders usually bring no additional effect.
At incaseof.law you receive 100% of your claim. You upload the unpaid invoice, we collect it for you.
Open claims can lose their value over time and become harder to enforce. The sooner you respond in a structured way, the higher the probability that your money comes back.
Yes. If a reminder has already gone unanswered or the customer clearly will not pay, you can hand the claim directly to a debt collection agency.
Yes. incaseof.law is a licensed debt collection agency and active in Austria as well as Germany. The process for unpaid invoices is structured the same way in both markets.
Invoice number, open amount, the original payment date, a new clear deadline and the notice of the next step. Worded in a matter-of-fact and unambiguous way.
Unpaid invoices generally reach their limitation period after several years, counted from the end of the year of the due date. The exact period depends on the country and the type of claim. What matters is: the sooner you act, the more securely your money stays enforceable. After you hand over, we keep an eye on the deadlines for you.
In many cases yes, as long as the claim has not yet reached its limitation period. With every year, however, enforcement becomes more difficult. Have an older unpaid invoice reviewed before the limitation period draws closer, and hand it over promptly.
In the vast majority of cases an unpaid invoice is not a criminal matter but a civil claim. A criminal complaint rarely brings you closer to your money. The faster way is the consistent enforcement of the claim through a debt collection agency.
Then we initiate the order for payment procedure and have your claim established by the court. After that it is enforced. It runs digitally, and you do not have to arrange anything yourself or go to court.
Yes. At incaseof.law there is no minimum volume, you can hand over single and small claims too. Because the effort for you is minimal and the debt collection costs are borne by the defaulting customer, handing over is worth it even for small amounts.
A reminder of your own is not a mandatory requirement to hand a claim to a debt collection agency. If the invoice is due and unpaid, you can hand over. We contact your customer in a matter-of-fact and verifiable way.
More on what to do when a customer fundamentally will not pay, what an engagement costs, or go straight to start debt collection.
You have sent reminders and the customer is not paying? Hand the claim over online, we collect it for you. 100% of the claim for you. Your money belongs in your account.
Start debt collectionOver 1,000 companies already trust our receivables management. We provide full support to our clients – from collection of single unpaid invoices to direct system integrations via API. We ensure efficient, legally compliant, and fully digital processes for your entire receivables management.
Book a first call and see for yourself why companies trust incaseof.law. We look forward to meeting you!
When faced with unpaid invoices, many entrepreneurs either reach straight for the 'legal sledgehammer' or do nothing at all. Both approaches are usually wrong. A modern, digital debt collection agency like incaseof.law solves problems before they end up in court. Spare yourself the financial risk of expensive litigation and opt for intelligent receivables management.
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