How to Claim an Unpaid Invoice

Recovering unpaid debts is often not only an economic necessity, but also a matter of reputation.

Our debt recovery services are offered on a monthly retainer basis and include assessment of the debt and dispatch of certified letters (burofax) or other certified communications regarding unpaid amounts, followed by judicial proceedings where necessary. See also how to recover unpaid debts online.

Maite Garasa

Lawyer 

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Below we outline the available judicial routes:

ORDER FOR PAYMENT PROCEDURE

The order for payment procedure (procedimiento monitorio) is a highly effective debt recovery route available to all types of creditors, including businesses, self-employed individuals, private individuals, and residents' associations.

It is used to demand payment of debts that are liquidated, certain, due, and enforceable.

Once the application is filed with the court, the debtor will receive a formal payment order.

The procedure is straightforward and fast. To initiate it, you must submit an application or claim for an order for payment together with a document evidencing the debt, which may be:

• a signed document, in any form or format and on any physical medium, bearing the debtor's signature, stamp, imprint, mark, or any other physical or electronic identifier;
• invoices, delivery notes, certificates, fax transmissions, or any other documents that, even if created unilaterally by the creditor, are of the type habitually used to record credits and debts in the kind of relationship existing between the creditor and debtor;
• commercial documents evidencing a prior ongoing business relationship;

We are here to assist you and help you avoid mistakes and delays. It should be noted, however, that neither a lawyer (Article 31 LEC) nor a court representative (procurador) (Article 23 LEC) is required for the initial application — though both are strongly recommended to ensure that no subsequent deadlines are missed.

The claim or application must be submitted to the Court of First Instance in the debtor's jurisdiction or that of the place where the debtor may be found. An exception applies to unpaid service charges in owners' communities, where the community may choose between the court of the debtor's domicile or the court of the location of the property belonging to the community.

There is no upper limit on the amount claimed, meaning a court application may be filed to recover any amount of debt, however large or small.

once the order for payment application has been filed

Once the claim is admitted, the debtor will be required to make payment within 20 working days:

• if the debtor pays, the proceedings will be closed
• if the debtor neither pays nor appears before the court, the order for payment procedure will be declared concluded, and the creditor may initiate enforcement proceedings through seizure of the debtor's assets.
• If the debtor appears and contests the claim by setting out the grounds on which the debt is disputed, the order for payment procedure will be declared concluded and the creditor who initiated it must file a new claim for either a summary or ordinary trial within 1 month of service of the debtor's statement of opposition: 

  • SUMMARY TRIAL (JUICIO VERBAL)

    • a summary trial procedure will be ordered if the debt does not exceed €6,000, and the creditor must file a claim for that procedure. In summary trial proceedings, neither a lawyer nor a court representative is required if the claim does not exceed €2,000.

  • Ordinary Proceedings

    • the case will be dealt with through ordinary proceedings if the claim exceeds €6,000.

Other legal routes for recovering the debt:

Find out here how to recover the debt through summary proceedings, ordinary proceedings or bill of exchange proceedings

See here how to claim VAT on unpaid invoices