The RUD procedure (recovery of undisputed debts) and the key role of the bailiff, explained

In the past, if you had unpaid debts, you would make every effort not have to take legal action because it would be a slow, frustrating and expensive ordeal. But in 2016, the law on the recovery of undisputed debts (RUD) caused a true revolution in the debt recovery world. Thanks to the RUD procedure, you no longer have to go to court to enforce the payment of undisputed ‘business to business’ invoices or to obtain a court order.

The various steps in the procedure

The first step must always be taken by a lawyer. The lawyer checks whether the case meets all the conditions required by law. At Unpaid, we are able to perform theses checks largely automatically, thus minimising the task for the lawyer, which allows us to keep our costs very low. The process is then taken over by the bailiff, who has been assigned a very important role by the legislator. The bailiff will take the following steps:

  • Solvency investigation

Before effectively getting started, the bailiff will first investigate your customer’s solvency. This involves consulting various sources as well as a visit to assess the situation on-site.

  • If the solvency investigation shows that the likelihood of recovery is small, the bailiff will consult with the creditor to discuss the further course of action in the procedure.
  • If there is no problem, the bailiff will proceed to the next step: official notification.

This step is not required by law, but at Unpaid we always do a solvency investigation  in order avoid running up costs for you unnecessarily.

  • Official notification

When there is no longer any doubt about solvency, the bailiff will approach your customer personally with the demand for payment. From that point, your customer has 30 days to pay directly to the bailiff or to dispute the claim through a standard procedure. Research shows that barely 1.7% of claims are disputed in this phase, which is a virtually negligible amount.

  • Title/judgment

If your customer has not paid after 30 days and has not disputed the claim, there will then be a waiting period of 8 days. After those 8 days have expired, the bailiff will apply for an enforceable title via a digital system provided by the government. The enforceable title has the same legal enforceability as a court order. Armed with this title, the bailiff will again serve a payment order to your customer, who will have a last chance to pay. If the customer does not respond within 5 days, the bailiff can proceed with seizure and public sale.

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Just five minutes’ work for you, and Unpaid does the rest

UNPAID will guide you through this procedure with just one clear goal in mind: at the end of a successful procedure, you will receive the full amount of your unpaid invoices as well as reimbursement of the advances you have paid. If you stop the procedure after the solvency investigation, you only pay the lump sum payment (€ 40) and the cost for the solvency investigation (€ 50).

Filing a claim couldn’t be easier. You start by entering your own VAT number and then the system guides you through the various steps, including the necessary checks, in just 5 minutes.  You can also work via the Unpaid integration in Yuki, Billit, Teamleader or Exact. You can transfer your entire claim file in just one click.

Ready to start collecting?

Enter your VAT number and we will handle the rest.

Do you have an unpaid invoice or do you have questions about how Unpaid works? Call +32 9 396 34 00 or let us know when you want to be called.