Debt collection and enforcement proceedings (DEBA)

In Switzerland, recovering an unpaid claim runs through a codified and surprisingly efficient procedure: enforced debt collection governed by the Federal Act on Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy (DEBA). Unlike other legal systems, you do not need a judge to get started: a simple request to the debt collection office is enough. But the procedure follows precise rules and steps, and knowing the sequence makes the difference between getting paid and standing still. Here is how it works.

Getting started: the request for enforcement

The creditor files a request for enforcement with the competent debt collection office, as a rule the one at the debtor’s domicile or registered office. There is no need to attach evidence of the claim at this stage: you state the parties, the amount, the cause of the claim and the date. The office issues and serves the debtor with a payment summons, the formal act ordering payment.

The objection: the fork in the road

Once served with the summons, the debtor has ten days to file an objection. This is the decisive moment:

if the debtor does not object, the procedure can move on towards seizure or bankruptcy;
if the debtor objects, enforcement is halted and it falls to the creditor to remove the objection through the courts.

The objection requires no grounds: simply declaring it is enough. That is why, statistically, many debtors object just to buy time. The creditor must therefore be ready to overcome it.

Removing the objection: provisional and definitive clearance

To overcome the objection, the creditor asks the court for clearance (Rechtsöffnung). The strength of the title held determines the route:

definitive clearance: available when the claim is based on an enforceable judgment or an equivalent title (for example an enforceable administrative decision). The debtor can only resist by proving that the debt has been extinguished;
provisional clearance: available when the creditor holds a written and signed acknowledgement of debt. Once provisional clearance is granted, the debtor has a deadline to bring an action to disclaim the debt.

A creditor with no written title must instead have the claim established through an ordinary action on the merits. Hence a fundamental practical rule: getting an acknowledgement of debt signed enormously simplifies recovery.

Continuation: seizure or bankruptcy

Once the objection has been overcome (or was never raised), the creditor requests the continuation of enforcement. The route depends on the nature of the debtor:

seizure route (Betreibung auf Pfändung): for individuals and entities not subject to bankruptcy. The office seizes the debtor’s assets up to the amount needed to cover the claim, respecting the subsistence minimum;
bankruptcy route (Betreibung auf Konkurs): for parties entered in the commercial register as businesses (typically AG, GmbH and registered sole proprietorships). Here, if the debt is not settled, the process reaches the bankruptcy warning and then the opening of bankruptcy.

Realisation and certificate of shortfall

In a seizure, the seized assets are realised (sold) and the proceeds distributed among the creditors. If the assets are not enough to cover the claim, the creditor receives a certificate of shortfall: a document that counts as an acknowledgement of debt and that allows, among other things, enforcement to be restarted later without having to re-establish the claim, with its own limitation periods.

Costs, timing and strategy

The procedure has modest costs, advanced by the creditor and then, as a rule, charged to the debtor. A few practical steps increase the chances of collecting:

document the claim thoroughly from the outset (contracts, invoices, acknowledgements);
act promptly, because time works in favour of those who do not pay;
consider precautionary measures, such as attachment (sequestration), when there is a risk that the debtor will spirit away assets;
monitor the debtor’s situation to choose the right moment for continuation.

How we work at SIH ONE

We manage the entire recovery cycle: request for enforcement, overcoming the objection through the correct clearance route, continuation up to seizure or bankruptcy, and the assessment of attachments and certificates of shortfall. We also set up the underlying contracts to make claims easier to recover.

Have unpaid claims sitting idle for months? Discover the services of our tax-legal division and turn unpaid invoices into collections.