I received a payment order: what to do

What is a payment order

It unfortunately happens to find in the letterbox a document from the Debt Enforcement Office headed payment order. It is the first formal act of the procedure under the Federal Act on Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy (DEBA): the creditor asserting a claim files an enforcement request (art. 67 DEBA), and the Office serves the debtor with the order to pay within 20 days, or to file an objection (art. 69 DEBA).

One thing should be stated at once, which reassures many: a payment order does not mean that the claim has been established by a court. Anyone can start enforcement against anyone, even for a non-existent or disputed claim. The payment order is a demand for payment, not a judgment. Precisely for this reason the law gives the debtor a simple and immediate tool to block it: the objection.

The 10 days to file an objection

The deadline is peremptory: 10 days from service of the payment order (art. 74 DEBA). "Peremptory" means that, once it expires, it is not recovered, subject to the exceptions seen below.

The objection is deliberately easy to file. It can be declared in two ways:

• orally or in writing to the official serving the order, at the moment of delivery;
• orally or in writing at the counter of the Debt Enforcement Office, within the 10 days.

You do not need a lawyer, you do not need reasons, you do not need evidence. It is enough to declare the objection. If you dispute only part of the amount, you must indicate the exact figure you acknowledge and the one you dispute. In all other cases the objection is total.

It follows that, when in doubt, it is always advisable to object within the deadline. It is free and buys time. Paying a debt you do not owe is much harder to remedy than objecting to a payment order.

What happens after the objection

The objection suspends the enforcement (art. 78 DEBA). The procedure stops and the ball passes to the creditor, who must now prove before a court that they are right. In practice, they must apply for dismissal of the objection (in German Rechtsöffnung). The law provides two routes, depending on how solid the creditor's title is.

The provisional dismissal (art. 82 DEBA) is obtained when the claim is based on a written acknowledgement by the debtor: a signed contract, an acknowledgement of debt, a written confirmation. The court grants the provisional dismissal on the basis of the document. The debtor, however, still has a way out: within 20 days they can bring an action for non-recognition of the debt (art. 83 para. 2 DEBA) and have the merits decided.

The definitive dismissal (art. 80 DEBA) is obtained when the creditor holds a final and binding judgment or an equivalent title. Here there is no more discussion on the merits: the enforcement continues.

This, after all, is the logic of the Swiss system: enforcement is fast, but anyone who really wants to collect a disputed claim must, sooner or later, go before the court. For a full overview of the routes available to creditor and debtor, see our page on debt collection and contractual liability.

If you let the 10-day deadline pass

No panic, but you must act. If the deadline was missed due to a non-attributable impediment (a serious illness, an absence caused by force majeure), you can request reinstatement of the deadline within 10 days of the cessation of the impediment (art. 33 para. 4 DEBA). Note that a mere "I forgot" is not enough: the impediment must be serious and demonstrable.

If instead the deadline expired without justification, some routes still remain when the debt is not actually owed (for example the action to annul or suspend the enforcement under art. 85a DEBA, or proof that the debt has been extinguished). These are more complex routes than simply objecting in time, and this is where it is worth getting assistance straight away.

Seizure or bankruptcy: what changes for you

Not all enforcements continue in the same way. The difference depends on who the debtor is.

Enforcement by seizure (art. 42 DEBA) concerns private individuals and those not entered in the Commercial Register. If the enforcement proceeds, the Office seizes the debtor's assets and income up to the amount of the claim, leaving the subsistence minimum.

Enforcement by bankruptcy (art. 39 DEBA) concerns instead persons and companies entered in the Commercial Register. Here the next step is not the seizure of individual assets, but the threat of bankruptcy: if the debt is not paid, it leads to the declaration of bankruptcy, with consequences for the entire business. For an entrepreneur the stakes are therefore far higher, and reaction times matter even more.

What it means for the parties

For whoever receives the payment order (the debtor): mark the service date and file an objection within 10 days if you have even a single doubt about the claim. It is free, needs no reasons and suspends everything. Keep the receipt of the objection. If the deadline has already passed, check at once whether the conditions for reinstatement (art. 33 DEBA) or for the other actions are met.

For whoever started the enforcement (the creditor): if the objection arrives, the procedure stops and you must take action. Prepare the title you hold (signed contract, acknowledgement of debt, judgment) and assess whether to apply for provisional or definitive dismissal. The more solid the title, the shorter the route.

Frequently asked questions

How many days do I have to object to a payment order?

You have 10 days from service of the payment order (art. 74 DEBA). It is a peremptory deadline: once expired, it is generally not recovered, subject to reinstatement of the deadline for a non-attributable impediment (art. 33 para. 4 DEBA).

Do I have to give reasons for the objection to a payment order?

No. The objection is declared orally or in writing at the counter of the Debt Enforcement Office, without any reasons and without evidence. If you dispute only part of the amount, you must indicate the exact figure you acknowledge.

What happens if I do not object within 10 days?

The creditor can request continuation of the enforcement without having to prove the merits of the claim to the court. Depending on the debtor, this proceeds with seizure of assets or with the threat of bankruptcy.

I filed an objection: is the debt cancelled?

No. The objection suspends the enforcement (art. 78 DEBA) but does not extinguish the claim. The creditor can apply to the court for dismissal of the objection, provisional (art. 82 DEBA) or definitive (art. 80 DEBA), and then continue.

Does the payment order end up in the debt enforcement register?

Yes. The enforcement is recorded and may appear in the debt enforcement register extract, consulted for example by banks and landlords. When the debt is not owed it is worth reacting within the deadline and, if necessary, later requesting its deletion.