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State-licensed debt collection institute § 118 GewO 1994 · GISA 32140156
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Licensed in AT and DE · OGH-confirmed

Debt collection for trades. Your final invoice belongs in your account.

The material is installed, your people were on site, and the final invoice has been open for 90 days. incaseof.law collects your unpaid trade invoice, from private customers as well as from the main contractor, and 100% of the claim stays with your business.

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When the client does not pay

The final invoice has been open for 90 days

The work is finished, the handover is done, and still no payment arrives. In the trades, an unpaid final invoice hits your business in three places at once.

Material and wages are long since paid

Pipes, tiles and the wages of your fitters left your account long ago. Every open item is money your business has advanced.

The main contractor passes the delay on

As a subcontractor you depend on the payment flow of the site. If the main contractor is waiting for money, 30 days turn into 90.

After the invoice comes the notice of defects

As long as there was nothing to pay, the work was fine. With the invoice come objections that were never an issue before.

In brief

Can a trade business hand an unpaid final invoice to a debt collection institute?

Yes. A trade business hands an unpaid final invoice to a licensed debt collection institute as soon as the payment deadline has passed, against private customers and against a main contractor alike. At incaseof.law you upload the invoice in minutes, and in 2026 100% of the claim goes into your account, licensed in Austria and Germany.

incaseof.law, a licensed debt collection institute in Austria and Germany, as of 2026.

How the handover works

Hand over in minutes, without a contract and without a sales call

If your client stops responding, handing the claim to a licensed debt collection institute is the fastest way to your money. This is how it runs at incaseof.law, step by step, the way debt collection works in detail.

1

Upload the final invoice

Upload the unpaid final invoice together with the order confirmation, from your phone on site just as easily as from the office.

In about 3 minutes
2

We collect

As a licensed institute confirmed by the OGH, incaseof.law calls on your client to pay, and takes the case to court where that is needed.

Checked in seconds Consistent escalation
3

Money in your account

After a successful collection incaseof.law pays out, 100% of the claim, without deductions. You can see the status in the portal at any time.

Paid out in full

Submit your claim online in a few minutes and leave the rest to incaseof.law.

A case from the building trade

An example: a final invoice of 12,600 euros, third reminder ignored

A plumbing contractor completes the sanitary installation in a housing project, the work is signed off, and the final invoice for 12,600 euros goes to the main contractor. After the down payment the balance stays open, and even the third reminder goes unanswered. The business hands the claim to incaseof.law, which takes it through every stage, from the demand through the court title to enforcement.

  • No more chasing by phone between two building sites. incaseof.law collects your money.
  • 100% of the final invoice belongs to you. The default costs are borne by the client.
  • Against a main contractor as well. Companies and private customers take the same route.
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Case file · Illustrative example

Illustrative example, as of 2026. A case typical of the building trade, not a real individual case.

Special cases in the trades

Notice of defects, part payment, retention money

Three constellations come up again and again with unpaid trade invoices. incaseof.law looks at every case individually before the claim goes into collection.

The notice of defects arrived only with the invoice

A late objection does not make your claim worthless. What counts are the order confirmation and the handover protocol.

Only a part payment arrived

If the client pays the down payment only, you hand over the open balance. Part payments already made are credited cleanly.

Retention money is not payment default

Money retained with its own due date is not an overdue claim. incaseof.law only takes on the part of your invoice that is due.

Not sure whether your case belongs here? The most common starting point is simple: the customer does not pay, and the invoice is unpaid. Both take the same route at incaseof.law.

What it costs

What does debt collection cost a trade business?

There are no costs for your business: 100% of your final invoice stays with you, and the default costs are borne by the client in default. You pay no success commission and no share, not even on a small time and material invoice.

No contract, no minimum volume, no costs for creditors.

How the debt collection costs are made up

The incaseof.law study for 2026 (n=149,916) shows how much capital is tied up as unpaid claims in Austrian companies: around 194.9 billion euros.

Law, money and peace of mind, from a single source

One solution that secures three things: your rights, your money and your peace of mind.

incaseof.law is a debt collection institute licensed in Austria and Germany, with a model confirmed by the OGH. You hand over your open claim digitally, we collect the money.

Law

Licensed and confirmed by the OGH

Officially authorised in Austria and Germany. Confirmed by the OGH (Austrian Supreme Court): your claim is enforced with legal certainty.

Licence under GewO 1994
Electronic legal communication
Enforceable across Europe
Money

100% of the claim for you

incaseof.law keeps no share of your principal claim. What your customer owes belongs, after a successful collection, entirely in your account.

No success commission
No deduction from the principal claim
Default costs borne by the debtor
Peace of mind

Digital, you take care of nothing

Upload the claim, incaseof.law takes over the rest. The entire collection runs through the connector and electronic legal communication.

Status in the portal at any time
Deadlines and escalation through us
Out of court and in court

Start now

Your final invoice belongs in your account. Let us begin.

Register to submit your claim, or contact us first if you have any questions.

Frequently searched

What trade businesses want to know about an unpaid invoice

What happens if a trade invoice is not paid?

If a trade invoice stays unpaid, the client falls into payment default and owes default interest on top of the invoice amount. Against companies that is 9.2 percentage points above the base rate, so 10.73% per year as at 1 July 2026, and against private customers 4% per year; between businesses a flat fee of 40 euros per claim is added. If the client still does not pay, the business hands the final invoice to a licensed debt collection institute such as incaseof.law. The claim itself becomes time-barred in Austria after three years.

How much time is there to pay a trade invoice?

Without a different agreement, a trade invoice in Austria is payable 30 days after receipt and maturity. If your final invoice carries its own payment term, 14 days for example, that date applies and default starts the day after. Between companies default starts automatically, and a prior reminder is not needed for it. Record the payment term in writing on the invoice for that reason.

How can you put a customer into payment default?

Between companies in Austria the client puts himself into default: once the agreed payment term has passed, default runs automatically, even without a reminder. Against private customers a reminder is usually needed before default interest starts to run. No specific number of reminders is prescribed: you can hand a due final invoice to debt collection at any time.

Figures on payment default in Austria as of 2026; base rate 1.53% as at 1 July 2026 as published by the Austrian National Bank. Questions in the wording of the Google search results on trade invoices, retrieved in July 2026.

Frequently asked

Questions from the trades.

From the notice of defects through the main contractor to the retention money. Your question is not here? incaseof.law answers personally.

Contact us
No. You hand over the claim as soon as the payment deadline has passed. incaseof.law reviews the documents and assesses a late notice of defects. In most cases a signed quotation or the order confirmation together with the invoice are enough.
Yes. incaseof.law collects claims against companies just as it does against private customers. On building sites in particular, unpaid final invoices from main contractors and developers are common, and the process is the same.
There is no minimum volume. You hand over a time and material invoice for 400 euros just as you would a final invoice for 30,000 euros. Because there are no costs for you as the creditor, even a small amount is worth it.
The retention money stays out of it as long as it is not due. incaseof.law takes on the due part of your final invoice and separates it from the agreed retention, which only becomes an issue on its own due date.
The order confirmation or a signed quotation and the invoice are enough in most cases. A handover protocol, time sheets and photos of the finished work strengthen the claim further, but they are not a requirement.
Yes, incaseof.law acts towards your client as a licensed debt collection institute. The tone stays factual and professional, so that the business relationship is not strained unnecessarily. Most cases end out of court.

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Sources and legal basis

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