Recovering an Unpaid Debt from an Italian Company: Steps and Costs

If an Italian company has not paid your invoice, the fastest legal route is usually the decreto ingiuntivo, a court payment order granted on documents and without a hearing, normally within one to three months of filing, which becomes enforceable if the debtor does not oppose it within 40 days. Before that, a formal demand sent to the debtor’s certified email address recovers a good share of debts on its own. For creditors established in another EU country, the European order for payment is an alternative with the same logic. The process does not require you to come to Italy.

Alfredo Esposito International Law Firm acts for foreign companies, freelancers and individuals who are owed money in Italy, in English and Spanish. This guide explains each step, what it costs and how long it takes. For contract disputes more broadly, see our contract lawyer page; to prevent the problem in the first place, see our guide to commercial contracts in Italy.

Step one: check whether the debtor can pay

A judgment against an insolvent company costs money and returns nothing, so the first step is a solvency check. Every Italian company is registered with the Registro delle Imprese, and for a few euro a visura camerale shows its legal status, registered office, directors, share capital and whether a liquidation or insolvency procedure has been opened. Filed accounts (bilanci) show turnover, debts and equity for the last years. The register of protests (protesti) shows dishonoured cheques and bills. If a liquidazione giudiziale (the former bankruptcy) has been opened under the Codice della crisi, individual enforcement is blocked and the only route is to file a claim in the procedure. If the company is active and trading, recovery is realistic and worth pursuing.

Step two: the formal demand

A letter of formal notice (diffida or costituzione in mora, article 1219 of the Civil Code) sets a deadline, usually 10 to 15 days, states the amount and warns of court action. Italian companies are required to have a certified email address (PEC) listed in the public register, and a message sent to it has the legal value of a registered letter with proof of receipt, so the demand reaches the debtor the same day with evidence of delivery. In commercial transactions late payment interest runs automatically from the due date at the European Central Bank reference rate plus eight percentage points under Legislative Decree 231/2002, and the creditor is entitled to a fixed 40 euro for recovery costs on each late invoice. Stating these figures in the demand often changes the debtor’s attitude.

Step three: the decreto ingiuntivo

The decreto ingiuntivo (articles 633 and following of the Code of Civil Procedure) is a payment order issued by a judge on the creditor’s documents alone, without summoning the debtor. For a business creditor the written proof required is satisfied by the invoices together with an authenticated extract of the creditor’s accounting records (article 634); contracts, order confirmations, delivery notes and the debtor’s own correspondence acknowledging the debt strengthen the application. The order is filed with the court of the debtor’s seat or of the place where payment was due, which for a sum of money is normally the creditor’s own domicile under Italian law, and the judge decides within weeks or a few months depending on the court.

Once served, the debtor has 40 days to file an opposition (longer when service takes place abroad). If no opposition is filed, the court declares the order enforceable (article 647) and it has the same value as a judgment. If the debt is proved by particular documents, or there is a risk of serious prejudice in waiting, the judge can declare the order provisionally enforceable from the outset (article 642), which allows immediate enforcement. If the debtor opposes, the case continues as an ordinary lawsuit, but the judge can still grant provisional enforcement at the first hearing where the opposition is not based on written evidence (article 648). Mediation is not a precondition for a payment order, and the assisted negotiation that Italian law requires before ordinary lawsuits for claims under 50,000 euro does not apply to it either.

Cross-border alternatives

A creditor established in another EU member state can instead use the European order for payment (Regulation 1896/2006), a standard form procedure for uncontested money claims that produces an order enforceable in every member state without further formalities. For claims up to 5,000 euro, the European small claims procedure (Regulation 861/2007) offers a simplified written process. Creditors outside the EU, for example in the United States or the United Kingdom, use the Italian decreto ingiuntivo directly; a judgment already obtained at home can be recognised in Italy, but the time and cost of recognition usually make a fresh Italian order the quicker option.

Step four: enforcement

An enforceable order is followed by an atto di precetto, a formal notice to pay within 10 days, after which enforcement can start. The most effective measure against a trading company is the attachment of its bank accounts and of the receivables owed to it by its own customers (pignoramento presso terzi, article 543). Where the creditor does not know the debtor’s bank, the court can authorise a search of the tax authority’s database of financial relationships (article 492-bis), which identifies the accounts. Vehicles, equipment and real estate can also be seized. Enforcement typically takes three to nine months from the precetto when assets are found.

Costs and how long it takes

• Court fee (contributo unificato): scaled to the amount claimed and halved for payment orders; from a few tens of euro for small claims to several hundred for large ones, plus a fixed stamp duty and service costs
• Legal fees: calculated on the ministerial scale (DM 55/2014) by value of the claim, agreed with you in advance and, in the payment order, awarded against the debtor together with interest and costs
• Formal demand: two to three weeks including the deadline
• Payment order: one to three months to obtain, plus 40 days for the opposition period
• Enforcement: three to nine months when assets are identified
• Opposed order: two to three years for a first instance decision, with provisional enforcement often available earlier

What we need from abroad

The invoices, the contract or order confirmation, proof of delivery or performance, the exchange of emails with the debtor and your company’s registration extract. Documents in English or Spanish are translated into Italian for the court by sworn translation, which we organise; our guide to sworn translations in Italy explains the formality. A power of attorney for litigation is signed by the creditor’s representative and legalised with an apostille where required; our power of attorney page describes the steps. Recovered sums are paid to your account abroad.

Send us the invoices and the debtor’s name. We will run the solvency check, tell you which procedure fits the amount and the documents you hold, and quote the fixed cost of the first phase. Contact us, book a 15-minute call or write on WhatsApp.