Have you lent money, sold a product or provided a service, but the payment never arrived?
You could keep waiting, but you could also solve the problem much more simply and quickly than you think: with a payment order (also known as a decreto ingiuntivo).
If the term makes you think of something complicated (or expensive), don't worry: we'll now explain in practical terms what it's about.
What is a payment order?
Imagine knocking on the judge's door and saying: “That person owes me money and I'd like it back without having to sue them”. If you have written evidence (contracts, invoices, messages, cheques, etc.), the judge can issue a formal order to the debtor: “Pay or return what you owe”. Simple, isn't it? 🎯
So with a payment order you DON'T need a long, expensive lawsuit. The judge examines the documents and, if everything is in order, issues the payment order (usually within 30 days). Once the order has been served, the debtor can decide whether to:
- Pay you or hand over what you're owed;
- Ignore the payment order (but with some unpleasant consequences, as we'll see).
- File an objection (in other words, sue you through a lawyer).
Who can apply for one?
Anyone, individuals, companies, associations, as long as they have a claim:
✅ Certo (i.e. based on documentary evidence);
✅ Liquido (when the amount is fixed or can be determined)
✅ Esigibile (meaning the payment deadline has passed).
For this it is essential to have written evidence proving the right (as we said, contracts, invoices, signed quotes, messages, cheques, etc.) and, almost always, to have tried unsuccessfully to recover the debt (the famous formal notice to pay and notice of default, where you tell the debtor “I'm giving you 10 days to pay or I'll take legal action!“).
🚫 And who CAN'T? Anyone who does NOT have written evidence of the debt. If you only have a verbal agreement, you'll have to bring ordinary proceedings, which take much longer and are more complex.
How much does it cost?
We all do our sums before calling a lawyer, don't we?
How often do you hear things like: “if I have to pay a lawyer 500 euros upfront to recover 1300 euros, forget it”. WRONG!
Here's how it works:
👉🏼 The lawyer's fees are added to the payment order: so if you need to recover 1300 and the legal fees come to 500 euros, the payment order will be for 1800 euros.
but there's more
👉🏼 The lawyer can advance the legal costs on your behalf and take care of the payment order at no cost to you. Yes, it's not wishful thinking: the law says so (it's the case of the lawyer claiming costs directly from the other side).
So, going back to the example above: the lawyer applies for a payment order for 1800 euros and, only AFTER your debtor has paid the full amount, the lawyer keeps their share of the costs, giving you EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE OWED (the famous 1300 euros).
They should teach this at school…
Of course, this is an option that not all lawyers are willing to take on. We at Legaless® are, and with our Online Services system we can prepare the application for a payment order in 48 hours!
Anyway, so you can do the maths with real figures, the table below shows the average cost of payment orders set by law according to the value of the claim:
>>Scroll>> | From €0 to €5.200 | from €5.201 to €26.000 | from €26.001 to €52.000 | From €52.001 to €260.000 | From €260.001 to €520.000 | Etc. |
| Lawyer's fees | € 473,00 | € 567,00 | € 1.370,00 | € 2.242,00 | € 4.394,00 | … |
In short, once legal fees are taken care of, the only amount left to pay will be the court fee (the court tax you can calculate with this tool, which is also reduced by 50%). More than manageable, I'd say.
How do you start the procedure?
To obtain a payment order, the application filed with the court must contain enough evidence to prove the debt. So:
- Gather all the evidence of the debt to include in the application and send it to the lawyer (quotes, contracts, messages, etc.)
- The lawyer files the application with the court (electronically, too: everything is digital nowadays!)
- The judge's assessment: without hearings and without notifying the debtor, the judge examines the documents and, if everything adds up, issues the payment order.
And the debtor? They only find out when the order is served on them, which must happen within 60 days.
What can the debtor do?
Once served, the debtor has 40 days to choose between:
- Paying (or handing over the goods): the simple solution, with no stress and no extra costs. And that's the end of the story.
- Ignoring the payment order: a very bad idea! After 40 days, the order becomes final and the creditor can get tough: serve a notice to pay and then start enforcement (salary, pension, bank account, home… nothing is off the table!).
- Objecting: but to do that they have to bring a full lawsuit, in which each side must prove its case in detail. Quite a risk, isn't it?
🤔 Can it be paid in instalments? Well, the law doesn't provide for paying a payment order in instalments, but nothing stops the parties from reaching an agreement on a repayment plan (better to pay in instalments than risk enforcement, right?).
Right, now that you know how it works, all that's left is to do the maths and decide.
If you need help with a payment order, or you've received one and want to defend yourself, you can tell us more in the Debt Recovery section of Legaless® 😉
