News

GOING TO COURT IN THE NETHERLANDS.

The law changed considerably at the end of 2011. Although it is still prohibited to work under contingency conditions the fee can be far lower since we are allowed to go to court ourselves in collection related cases up to € 25.000.

WHAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE?
That is our fee. Lawyers fees are between € 200 - € 500. We only charge € 50,-- per hour and since we handle most cases already in the pre-legal stage we don’t have to invest much time in studying the case. If the case is not disputed the cost can range between € 800 and € 1000. If the judge rules in our advantage and the defendant can pay you will get ¾ back of these costs.
If the defendant wants to take counter action costs will be higher but still on a reasonable level.

COURT COSTS
That is another story. They also changed but not for the best.
Court costs in Holland are high.
For cases up to € 500,-- they are € 109,--
Up to € 12.500,-- they are € 437,-- and
Up to € 25.000,-- they are € 873,--

Also a change is that both plaintiff and defendant will be charged these costs and they have to be paid up front. As a result a lot of cases, especial the smaller ones, are sentenced by default because the defendant does not want to pay these costs if he thinks he will loose the case. He still have to pay 100% of our court costs.

BAILIFF COSTS
Depends of what has to be done. In normal cases these costs are appr. € 400,-- If the defendant is convicted and can pay, also ¾ of these costs have to be paid by the defendant.

CONCEPT SUMMONS
That is a new concept and allowed in Holland but not in many other countries. If the debtor does not pay or reacts not the way we want it we can send him/her a ‘Concept Summons” That is a normal summons but we don’t send this to the bailiff because of various reasons: hardly any assets, just need an extra push for being paid, client does not want to go to court etc. Costs are only € 35,-- and it works.

GOING TO COURT
Only after considering all aspects of the case: assets, chances to win and of course always after consultation with the client. We don’t want that our client “throws good money to bad money”

If you have any questions, please let us know.

Sincerely,
Jan Hazes

(Newsletter March 2012)

 

CONTINGENCY FEES?

In the International Collection business there are many rules and regulations that apply for many countries or states, but if you think you know them all, al of a sudden you discover that there are also a lot of differences you have to reconsider.

In the USA and Canada it is common that lawyers work under contingency conditions and some US and Canada based companies think that is the same in Europe.

NO, IT IS NOT, and even prohibited by law.

In the pre-legal phase of a collection an agency or collection lawyer mostly offer services on a ‘no cure-no pay’ basis, but as soon as the case has to go to court one is hit with hourly wages.

This is why we try to stay away from court as much as possible, but this is not always possible.

Although there cannot be a contingency rate, it is always possible (and wise) to negotiate the hourly rate. These vary by country from $ 200 - $ 500 and upwards, depending on the case and the seniority of the lawyer. The rate the lawyer charges has nothing to do with the amount you and your client get when you win the case. Court grants to the winner by stating the costs based on their own point system. If your lawyer charges you 20 hours at $ 400 = $8,000, it is entirely possible that the Court awards only $ 3,000 due to their marking system. That is different in Germany. There the Court decides how much a case will cost and if you win you get the total amount from the debtor IF HE CAN PAY.

If you lose the case you have to pay the court costs of the debtor. Before starting a case have that always bear that in mind – THERE IS NO CONTINGENCY.

To find out if it is wise to go to Court and what the costs will approximately be, ask the lawyer or agency you work with abroad. They should know and give you good advice and the lowest rate. If you don’t have any, you can always call on us.

Sincerely,

Jan Hazes,
The Dutchman

(Newsletter, January 30, 2010)