How to succeed with debt collection abroad

Debt collection abroad, or international debt collection, is a daunting task for many - which debt collection company or lawyer abroad should you choose? What does international debt collection cost and how does debt collection abroad work?

There are often many questions associated with international debt collection - and for good reason. Most companies have rarely needed to collect abroad, and when they do, many tend to give up - but it doesn't have to be that way.

At Collectia, we have many years of experience with debt collection in Denmark, the Nordics, Germany - and the rest of Europe.

Here are 5 tips that we think you should know if you want to succeed with debt collection abroad.

Tip 1: Try the reminder phase and debt collection yourself(self-collection)

It may be beneficial to contact the debtor in the country in question yourself. Often non-payment is due to either technical difficulties or simple oversight.

If this is the case, sending a reminder letter or making a phone call to the debtor is often enough.

In this way, you can clarify the reason for the non-payment and when the money can be expected to be transferred to you.

Tip 2: Remember the customer's terms of trade, if any

Many companies abroad have more specific trading conditions than traditional Danish companies - and this can affect payment flow and payments.

This can mean that companies abroad, for example, often have very long payment times - some as long as 90 days or more.

These have often been presented to you - but perhaps forgotten or overlooked.

Many, especially larger corporations abroad, will often simply ignore your payment deadline of, for example, 7 days if they have a 90-day payment deadline and only pay after 90 days.

Tip 3: Payments abroad often take a long time to arrive

A basic principle of any payment is that if the customer has paid on or before the payment deadline, the payment has been made on time.

Many payments often take several days to process, and even in Denmark a payment can often take 1-3 banking days (business days).

This also means that as a creditor, you can't expect to have your money in your account on the payment date - or the day after.

Please note that transfers are only made on banking days, which are often weekdays. For example, banking days in Denmark are not weekends or public holidays - as well as 12 other dates, which can be found on Danmarks Nationalbank's website.

Abroad, there are similar banking days and therefore also days when payments cannot be transferred.

In addition to banking days in Denmark and abroad, a payment generally takes more days to travel from abroad to Denmark than a transfer from one Danish account to another.

Remember to be aware of these conditions before you start your own debt collection process.

Tip 4: Choose a debt collection company that knows the country

We recommend that you choose a lawyer or debt collection agency in the country where you want debt collection. If you want debt collection in Germany, choose a debt collection agency with an office or representation in Germany.

We recommend this as debt collection from country to country is often different - both legally, culturally and in the way debt collection is done most effectively.

By choosing a debt collection agency abroad that has knowledge of the country in question, the debt collection agency often also has access to the right tools in the country, such as debt registers, the possibility of wage withholding, etc. Tools that a lawyer or debt collection agency in Denmark often does not have access to unless they have in-depth knowledge of the country in question.

Tip 5: Choose a debt collection company with a strong network

Choosing a debt collection company with a local presence is important - but few debt collection companies or lawyers have strong local knowledge of all countries.

That's why we recommend you choose a debt collection agency with a strong network. This means that the debt collection agency in Denmark can forward the case to a debt collection agency in the network - in the country where the debtor belongs.

Debt collection abroad with Collectia

Collectia is one of the few debt collection companies in Denmark with offices in Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. If you need debt collection in the Nordic region, Collectia's own staff can help you achieve your goals.

Simply create your cases as usual and Collectia's Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish or German departments will take care of it.

In addition to the Nordic countries, where many of our customers need debt collection, we are also represented in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, England, Estonia, France, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland through the European Collectors Association (ECA).

The European Collectors Association (ECA) is a strong network of debt collection companies and debt collection lawyers across Europe, which Collectia is a part of.

This means that you can send your debt collection case to Collectia, and it is always the best partner in that country that handles your debt collection case. We believe that debt collection abroad should be handled abroad - and thus let the individual local debt collection companies and lawyers handle your debt collection case.

With Collectia, you get one partner. For example, if you have both Danish and foreign debt collection cases, we handle it all for you, and you do not need multiple partners if you need both Danish debt collection and international debt collection.