EU Directive 2011/7: 30-day default term, €40 fixed compensation, ECB+8% interest. Understand each step and generate your demand letter or formal notice ready to send.
Generate my letterA progressive process — amicable first, judicial as a last resort.
Email or call a few days past the due date. Keeps the relationship intact. 60% of late invoices clear at this stage.
Registered letter that triggers late-payment interest and the €40 fixed cost. Mandatory step before judicial action in most cases.
Simplified court procedure (UK/IE: summary judgment; DE: Mahnverfahren; FR: injonction de payer; ES: monitorio; IT: decreto ingiuntivo).
Bank account, salary or chattel attachment by a bailiff (huissier / Gerichtsvollzieher / sheriff) — only with an enforceable order.
This Directive harmonises B2B and B2G payment rules across the 27 Member States. Your rights are the same in France, Germany, Spain or Poland.
Statutory payment term: 30 days by default (B2B and B2G), extendable to 60 days by written agreement
Automatic late-payment interest: ECB reference rate + at least 8 percentage points (≈ 12.15% in April 2026)
Fixed recovery compensation of at least €40 per unpaid invoice + reasonable additional recovery costs (when justified)
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Generate my letterNot formally required in every EU country, but strongly recommended: it triggers the late-payment interest and the €40 fixed cost, evidences your amicable attempt, and prevents the judge from finding the action abusive. Without a demand letter, the procedure may still succeed but your chances of recovering all costs decrease.
Automatically from the day following the invoice due date, with no demand letter required (Article 6 of Directive 2011/7). It runs alongside late-payment interest. For multiple unpaid invoices, the €40 applies per invoice, not just once.
Uncontested: 4–8 weeks to obtain the order, 1 month to serve it on the debtor, then 1 month to make it enforceable. If contested, the case moves to ordinary proceedings (several months). The European Order for Payment (Regulation 1896/2006) follows similar timelines for cross-border claims.
Yes — Directive 2011/7 Article 6 expressly allows the creditor to claim "reasonable additional recovery costs" beyond the €40. Bailiff fees (service of demand letter, service of order, attachment) are in principle borne by the debtor when the action succeeds.
Yes — either by mandate (the agency acts on your behalf in exchange for 8–25% of recovered sums) or by assignment (definitive sale, you receive funds immediately but discounted). Always check that the agency is licensed in your country (FR: carte professionnelle; DE: RDG-Erlaubnis; etc.).