Insights
Collecting from a Belgian debtor
Belgian collection law gives a creditor tools that have no equivalent in most neighbouring countries — and deadlines that catch people out. These are the things we explain most often to clients abroad, written from our own practice.
Late-paying customers in Belgium: seven measures that work
Whether an invoice gets paid is largely decided before it falls due. Seven measures — from invoicing on the day of delivery to the terms and conditions that decide what you may claim.
Read it — 5 min
Judicial or administrative recovery? In Belgium the creditor chooses — and that choice determines what you recover
Belgium lets you recover an undisputed B2B debt through a bailiff, without a judge. That route is capped at 10%. On an €8,000 invoice eight months overdue, the difference is €1,360 against €800.
Read it — 5 min
Transport invoices expire after one year. Not ten.
Under article 32 of the CMR Convention, claims from international carriage by road are time-barred one year after the invoice is issued. And article 31 often lets you keep the case in Belgium.
Read it — 4 min
You can freeze your debtor's bank account on an unpaid invoice — without going to court first.
Belgian law allows a protective attachment in the hands of the debtor’s bank on the strength of an unpaid invoice alone — no judgment, no prior judicial authorisation. Four conditions apply.
Read it — 4 min
What counts as a valid dispute in Belgium — and why silence works in your favour
An invoice a business does not protest in time is presumed accepted. But every objection — late, groundless or bare — closes the fast administrative route, while only a proper one survives before a judge.
Read it — 4 min
Four clauses that decide how much of your money you keep
A payment term with interest, a compensation clause, a complaints period and retention of title. Plus the two conditions — when you communicate them, and who you sell to — that decide whether any of it works.
Read it — 4 min
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