{"id":8997,"date":"2019-03-28T14:34:09","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T13:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/?p=8997"},"modified":"2025-12-03T15:54:50","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T14:54:50","slug":"when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/","title":{"rendered":"When customers do not pay: legal action and options"},"content":{"rendered":"

At Lunch & Law on 28 March 2019 at Technopark Winterthur, Dr Oliver Fritschi and Georg Weber provided practical insights into the legal options available when customers fail to pay or companies encounter liquidity problems.<\/p>\n

Consistently addressing outstanding claims<\/h5>\n

Outstanding invoices are not only annoying, but can also quickly become a burden on liquidity, especially for SMEs. The first step is usually debt collection, which can be initiated without justification or evidence. If the debtor still does not pay, the legal proposal can be removed by means of legal proceedings or legal enforcement.<\/p>\n

Further legal claims<\/h5>\n

In addition to the principal claim, creditors can also claim default interest (5% p.a.), contractually agreed reminder fees and, under certain circumstances, damages for delay. In the case of claims against debtors abroad, the place of jurisdiction and enforcement must be examined particularly carefully.<\/p>\n

Ways out of illiquidity<\/h5>\n

If a company itself gets into difficulties, restructuring measures such as subordination, capital reduction (\u2018harmonisation restructuring\u2019) or a rescue company are possible options. It is crucial to act early and seek legal advice before the situation becomes uncontrollable.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h5>\n

The presentation made it clear that payment defaults are part of the business risk \u2013 however, timely action and clear contractual bases help to minimise losses and secure liquidity.<\/p>\n

The presentation for the event can be viewed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At Lunch & Law on 28 March 2019 at Technopark Winterthur, Dr Oliver Fritschi and Georg Weber provided practical insights into the legal options available when customers fail to pay or companies encounter liquidity problems. Consistently addressing outstanding claims Outstanding invoices are not only annoying, but can also quickly become a burden on liquidity, especially…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":8996,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[356],"tags":[944,947,946,942,937,941,948,805,940,807,943,949,939,945,902,938],"class_list":["post-8997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sme-law","tag-capital-reduction","tag-creditor-rights","tag-cross-border-debt-collection","tag-debt-collection-procedures","tag-debt-recovery-switzerland","tag-default-interest","tag-enforcement-proceedings","tag-kmu","tag-legal-enforcement","tag-probst-partner-ag","tag-restructuring-measures","tag-sme","tag-sme-liquidity-issues","tag-subordination-of-claims","tag-swiss-insolvency-law","tag-unpaid-invoices"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhen customers do not pay: legal action and options - Probst Partner Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How to enforce unpaid claims in Switzerland and manage liquidity crises in SMEs. Legal options for debt recovery, default interest and restructuring.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When customers do not pay: legal action and options - Probst Partner Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How to enforce unpaid claims in Switzerland and manage liquidity crises in SMEs. Legal options for debt recovery, default interest and restructuring.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Probst Partner Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-03-28T13:34:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-03T14:54:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/00d1a9c5-a7a6-43e6-9f7b-c030a9fb2e59.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Marc Dubs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Marc Dubs\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Marc Dubs\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/5ffef0146847a4d52ff08432338e9202\"},\"headline\":\"When customers do not pay: legal action and options\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-28T13:34:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-03T14:54:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/\"},\"wordCount\":227,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/00d1a9c5-a7a6-43e6-9f7b-c030a9fb2e59.png\",\"keywords\":[\"capital reduction\",\"creditor rights\",\"cross-border debt collection\",\"debt collection procedures\",\"debt recovery Switzerland\",\"default interest\",\"enforcement proceedings\",\"KMU\",\"legal enforcement\",\"Probst Partner AG\",\"restructuring measures\",\"SME\",\"SME liquidity issues\",\"subordination of claims\",\"Swiss insolvency law\",\"unpaid invoices\"],\"articleSection\":[\"SME & Law\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/\",\"name\":\"When customers do not pay: legal action and options - Probst Partner Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/00d1a9c5-a7a6-43e6-9f7b-c030a9fb2e59.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-28T13:34:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-03T14:54:50+00:00\",\"description\":\"How to enforce unpaid claims in Switzerland and manage liquidity crises in SMEs. Legal options for debt recovery, default interest and restructuring.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/00d1a9c5-a7a6-43e6-9f7b-c030a9fb2e59.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/00d1a9c5-a7a6-43e6-9f7b-c030a9fb2e59.png\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":1024},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"When customers do not pay: legal action and options\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Probst Partner Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Probst Partner Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/favicon.ico\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/favicon.ico\",\"width\":1,\"height\":1,\"caption\":\"Probst Partner Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/5ffef0146847a4d52ff08432338e9202\",\"name\":\"Marc Dubs\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/author\/marc-dubs\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"When customers do not pay: legal action and options - Probst Partner Blog","description":"How to enforce unpaid claims in Switzerland and manage liquidity crises in SMEs. Legal options for debt recovery, default interest and restructuring.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"When customers do not pay: legal action and options - Probst Partner Blog","og_description":"How to enforce unpaid claims in Switzerland and manage liquidity crises in SMEs. Legal options for debt recovery, default interest and restructuring.","og_url":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/","og_site_name":"Probst Partner Blog","article_published_time":"2019-03-28T13:34:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-03T14:54:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":1024,"url":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/00d1a9c5-a7a6-43e6-9f7b-c030a9fb2e59.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Marc Dubs","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Marc Dubs","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/"},"author":{"name":"Marc Dubs","@id":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/5ffef0146847a4d52ff08432338e9202"},"headline":"When customers do not pay: legal action and options","datePublished":"2019-03-28T13:34:09+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-03T14:54:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/"},"wordCount":227,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/00d1a9c5-a7a6-43e6-9f7b-c030a9fb2e59.png","keywords":["capital reduction","creditor rights","cross-border debt collection","debt collection procedures","debt recovery Switzerland","default interest","enforcement proceedings","KMU","legal enforcement","Probst Partner AG","restructuring measures","SME","SME liquidity issues","subordination of claims","Swiss insolvency law","unpaid invoices"],"articleSection":["SME & Law"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/","name":"When customers do not pay: legal action and options - Probst Partner Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/00d1a9c5-a7a6-43e6-9f7b-c030a9fb2e59.png","datePublished":"2019-03-28T13:34:09+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-03T14:54:50+00:00","description":"How to enforce unpaid claims in Switzerland and manage liquidity crises in SMEs. Legal options for debt recovery, default interest and restructuring.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/00d1a9c5-a7a6-43e6-9f7b-c030a9fb2e59.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/00d1a9c5-a7a6-43e6-9f7b-c030a9fb2e59.png","width":1024,"height":1024},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/when-customers-do-not-pay-legal-action-and-options\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"When customers do not pay: legal action and options"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/","name":"Probst Partner Blog","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/#organization","name":"Probst Partner Blog","url":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/favicon.ico","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/favicon.ico","width":1,"height":1,"caption":"Probst Partner Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/5ffef0146847a4d52ff08432338e9202","name":"Marc Dubs","url":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/author\/marc-dubs\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8997"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9102,"href":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8997\/revisions\/9102"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.probstpartner.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}