As of: January 29, 2024, 5:04 a.m
By: Franziska Kaindl
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There's a suspicious-looking yellow letter in your mailbox?
Then it could be that you have not paid an invoice.
What to do if you receive a dunning notice.
When shopping online, consumers can quickly lose track of their finances - and even more so if they choose to pay by invoice.
If you don't pay off the debt immediately after receiving the goods, you run the risk of forgetting it completely.
In the worst case scenario - and if several reminders and debt collection demands have been ignored or overlooked - the court reminder will eventually arrive in your mailbox in a yellow envelope.
Action should be taken now at the latest.
Under no circumstances should you ignore a court order
First of all, you have to keep your nerves.
Not every reminder notice necessarily has to be justified, as the
consumer advice center
informs.
This is because the courts do not check whether they actually owe money to the creditor - i.e. the person or company that wants to have the reminder issued.
However, you should not ignore the yellow letter.
The court order comes in a yellow envelope.
© Rüdiger Wölk/Imago
There are two options for you: If you actually haven't paid the bill, you should pay off your debt as quickly as possible.
Otherwise, the next letter will follow soon in the form of an enforcement notice.
If this is also ignored, the bailiff comes to collect the money.
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However, if you are sure that the claims are not justified, you can respond to the reminder notice with an objection.
This can be the case, for example, if you have already paid the invoice but the biller has not yet registered this.
The relevant form for an objection will be provided by the court.
You should return this within two weeks of receiving the yellow letter.
You have the option to object to the dunning notice in whole or in part.
According to the consumer advice center
, an objection to part of the claim is
an option if you want to defend yourself against excessive interest or impermissible collection costs that the creditor demands.
However, the main claim will be paid.
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What happens if you have objected to the reminder notice?
If both parties insist on their position, a civil lawsuit will result.
The creditor must then be able to explain why his request for payment is justified.
The other side, in turn, must also be able to conclusively demonstrate that there is no claim.
In the end, the losing side bears the court and legal costs.
How high these are depends on how high the amount in dispute is.