Debt collection and court payment orders

A debt collector’s letter is a claim, not proof that you owe the amount. A court payment order is a different stage: ignoring it can make even a disputed claim enforceable.

In short

• Identify the document: an invoice, a reminder, an Inkasso demand, a Mahnbescheid or a Vollstreckungsbescheid.
• Check the original creditor, contract, payments already made, interest and collection fees separately.
• Keep the whole letter and service envelope. Translating or asking for advice does not pause a deadline.

Before paying a collector

Compare the demand with your orders, cancellation confirmation and bank statements. Ask for an explanation of an unfamiliar claim and an itemised calculation. Verify the collector through independent contact details and the official Legal Services Register linked in the consumer guidance. Section 10 of the Legal Services Act requires registration for debt collection as a legal service. Registration does not prove that this particular debt or fee is correct.

If the claim is wrong, dispute it clearly in writing and keep proof. Do not sign an instalment agreement or acknowledgement you do not understand: it can add fees or recognise disputed obligations. The free Inkasso-Check can help with an initial assessment, but it does not file a response with the court. Individual consumer advice may cost money.

If you owe the debt but cannot pay, seek recognised debt counselling and check any fees before choosing a service. Public debt counselling can also help you consider consumer insolvency. The Federal Ministry of Justice says recognised debt-counselling offices, including municipal ones, are the usual place for that advice. Under section 305(1) No. 1 of the Insolvency Code, a court application must include a certificate from a suitable person or body designated by the Land, showing that an out-of-court settlement plan was attempted without success in the six months before the application.

When a court payment order arrives

The court does not first check whether the debt is justified. For a German domestic payment order, act within the stated two weeks after service. If you dispute all or part, use the enclosed objection form and make sure it reaches the issuing court in time. Keep a copy and delivery proof; writing only to the collector does not object to the court order. Check the claimed interest and fees even if the original purchase is yours.

Section 694 permits objection until the court has directed that an enforcement order be issued, with rules for late objections. If two weeks have passed, seek urgent advice instead of assuming nothing can be done. Do not delay deliberately: an enforcement order can follow. European payment orders and service abroad have different rules; follow the actual notice and obtain advice.

If the debt is valid

Pay the verified amount to the verified recipient, retain proof and tell the claimant promptly if a court procedure has started. Confirm how payment and any remaining costs will be recorded. If you need instalments, obtain the complete cost and terms first. Do not object just to gain time: a subsequent contested case can create additional court and legal costs. Keep opening later court letters even while negotiating.

If enforcement reaches the account

If enforcement reaches your bank account, ask the bank to convert it into a Pfändungsschutzkonto (P-Konto), an account that protects a basic amount from attachment. You can ask at any time, including after the balance has been attached. If it is already attached, section 850k lets you require that protection from the start of the fourth business day after your request. You may keep only one such account, and you must tell the bank that you have no other.

Ask immediately. For an individual account with an already attached balance, section 899 applies the basic protected amount if conversion is completed before one month has elapsed since the transfer order was served on the bank. A request is not the completed conversion, so allow for the bank’s processing time. A later conversion can still protect later balances under the P-Konto rules, but an already attached balance does not automatically benefit from this one-month rule. Ask the bank and a debt adviser urgently about the dates and available protection.

Check the current official schedule for the protected amount. The ministry also says the account must be offered at ordinary account prices, without a separate fee.

Increase the protected amount and prove it

The basic protection may be insufficient if you support people under a legal maintenance duty, receive qualifying benefits for others in the household, or receive Kindergeld and other child benefits. Section 902 lists the conditions and exceptions; not every credit is a separate automatic extra allowance. Request a P-Konto certificate under section 903 from the benefit payer, Familienkasse, employer or a suitable person/body such as recognised debt advice or a lawyer. Take benefit decisions, maintenance evidence and bank statements so payments are neither missed nor counted twice.

Submit the certificate to the bank and retain proof of delivery. The bank must apply its details from the second business day following submission. Check its validity and your available balance; an unlimited certificate is normally observed for two years, with statutory grounds for requiring an earlier update. Back payments have special rules under section 904; do not assume a large lump sum is fully protected merely because the account was converted.

If the protection is not applied

Request a written explanation and available-balance calculation from the bank, and explain the urgency if rent or food money is blocked. Obtain debt advice promptly. If a certificate cannot reasonably be obtained after first requesting it from the benefit-paying body and then another authorised issuer, section 905 allows an application to the enforcement court to set the increase, with evidence of those attempts. Individual amounts and arrears can require other applications; in public-creditor enforcement, the enforcement authority can replace the court. Check the correct body and application with the adviser.

Ask the bank about withdrawals, transfers and your card under the agreed account services; protection does not create credit or overdraft rights. A joint account cannot simply become a joint P-Konto. Section 850l has a separate one-month period and a procedure for transferring a share to an individual account. Get advice immediately about that procedure and protecting each person’s share.

Converting an account does not cancel the debt or respond to a court order. If repayment is beyond a realistic budget, see debt counselling and insolvency.