Example for a final summons/reminder Despite our previous reminders, our invoice of … in the amount of € ,– remains outstanding. We should now like to summons you to settle the amount within five days.

In case you should fail to pay said amount (in a timely manner), we shall be forced to seek legal remedy through the offices of Van Heusden & Berendsen Advocates in Amsterdam. In such case we shall be entitled to contractual or statutory interest and extra judicial debt recovery and legal costs.

We trust that we shall not be forced to take further action and await your early remittance.

Yours sincerely,

Information for you: A debtor may sometimes be held liable for extra judicial debt collection costs only if he is advised about them in at least one (final) reminder in which he is given a reasonable time to settle the outstanding debt without further costs.

As to what constitutes a reasonable period depends on the importance of the outstanding debt to you. The more important early payment is to you, the shorter the reasonable time will generally be. Usually a final reasonable period is between five and eight days.

Extra judicial debt recovery costs are often dealt with in general terms and conditions. These general terms and conditions usually bind consumers only in case it can be proven that the consumer accepted those terms and conditions prior to or at the time of the conclusion of the contract. In case of a dispute as to the application of such terms and conditions, there is always the fall-back to “reasonable costs”, which are calculated by us in accordance with the Netherlands Bar Association tariff. This amounts to 15% over de first € 2.950 of the principal, 10% over the subsequent € 2.950, 8% over the subsequent € 5.900, 5% over the subsequent € 14.750 and 3% over the remainder. It must be said, though, that the court may limit the amount so calculated.

Interest may be agreed in general terms and conditions also. In case interest is agreed upon in a contract, legal interest may be claimed. The amount varies in time and according to the whether both contracting parties are consumers or not. Look for the interest rates here.