New Belgian legislation on consumer debt: Are you ready?

There is interesting news from Belgium that could affect your general terms and conditions and invoicing process. Recently, the Belgian legislator published the law 'Book XIX - Debts of the consumer'. This law aims to ensure that consumers can initially settle claims without extra costs. At the same time, the law establishes mandatory collection costs for every claim against consumers (B2C). The Belgian legislation strongly resembles the Collection Costs Act (Wet Incassokosten) introduced in the Netherlands in 2012.

This article clarifies what important and mandatory adjustments this new law entails for companies with clients in Belgium.

First cost-free reminder and textual obligations

No extra costs may be charged for the first reminder sent for an invoice. The client is given a total of 14 calendar days to respond. We recommend using a term of 20 days, taking into account weekends and public holidays. For periodic invoices, a term of three months applies.

The final reminder must, just like the WIK letter known in the Netherlands, comply with certain textual rules. For example, it must state which costs will be charged if payment is not made. Additionally, all standard invoice information must be clearly listed, such as a description of the products or services, the invoice number, and the final due date.

Note! Always ensure you have the final reminder on hand if the client asks for it. This allows you to prove that the letter was actually sent to the client.

Amount of collection costs determined

It is advisable to include the collection costs that will be charged to the client in the event of non-payment in your general terms and conditions. This way, it is always clear how unpaid invoices are handled.

The amount of collection costs that may be charged to the client is set by law. Therefore, it is important to follow the calculations below in your general terms and conditions.

Note! The maximum amount that may be charged for collection costs is €2,000. Even if the amount of collection costs according to the table above would be higher.

Help with debt collection in Belgium

It is important that you pay close attention to the changed rules if you have clients in Belgium. Although the content of the law is slightly different, the rules are very similar to Dutch collection legislation.

Do you have clients in Belgium who are not paying one or more invoices? Or would you like to know more about invoicing foreign clients? Then you can always contact one of our international collection specialists. Create a free account at incasso.nl and ask your question. Or contact Raymond Eerland via reerland@ultimoo.nl.