How can we help?

Please do not ignore our contact anyway. Feel free to send us an e-mail or discuss the situation on the phone to avoid further reminders and costs. We clarify the process with the contractual partner and of course stop the process if it turns out that our payment requests are not justified.

If you do not know the contractual partner, the claim may still be justified, for example if you have used the services of a so-called payment service provider as part of your order at a shop. This service provider, which has enabled payment by invoice, for example, is your legal contractual partner and may now expect payment from you.

If, even after thorough examination, it is not clear to you why this claim exists and you have never received the underlying order or service, please also check whether your data may have been misused. Find out more on the website of the Arbeiterkammer Österreich. The important thing is: Be sure to get in touch, we'll help you!

The company with which you have an open claim has commissioned PAIR Finance to safeguard its interests and to agree on a payment solution for the open claim in out-of-court proceedings. We endeavour to find a suitable payment solution with you in the out-of-court proceedings. We work together with lawyers in judicial and post-judicial proceedings. At each stage, we want to keep the costs of the process as low as possible for you. You should always contact us by e-mail or telephone, even if you have objections. This enables you and us to clarify questions as quickly as possible before any further costs, e.g. for legal expenses, are incurred.

The judicial dunning procedure
If, despite all our efforts, we have not found a joint solution in the out-of-court proceedings, the judicial dunning procedure will follow. In this case, lawyers are instructed to apply to the competent court to issue a payment order against the debtor. This is then sent by post by the court. This will incur additional costs that must be borne by the debtor. The dunning procedure includes the following steps:

Filing a lawsuit: The creditor lodges a dunning action with the competent court, usually the district court.

Review of the dunning action: The court examines the dunning action and the attached documents. If everything is in order and the legal requirements are met, the court issues a payment order.

Service of the payment order: The payment order is served on the debtor. This can be done in various ways, for example by a bailiff or by registered letter.

Debtor’s reaction: The debtor now has the option of paying the claim within 14 days without further consequences (such as enforcement proceedings) or objecting to the payment order within four weeks of service. If he does so, the judicial dunning procedure will be converted into ordinary litigation proceedings.

Enforcement of the payment order: In the absence of an objection by the debtor or if the objection is rejected by the court, the payment order shall become legally binding and enforceable. The creditor can now apply for enforcement to enforce the open claim.

The post-judicial procedure
Enforcement proceedings require the existence of an enforceable title, such as a final judgement or payment order. This title indicates precisely the requirement to be met. Together with the title, the debtor receives an order to fulfil the claim within 14 days. If the debtor fails to comply with this request – for whatever reason – the creditor may initiate enforcement with the help of the court. To this end, a corresponding application must be filed in the court (application for execution).
The creditor has several means of execution at his disposal for enforcement. The creditor alone decides which variant of enforcement is to be applied. Several means of execution can also be applied for.

Cost development in the entire dunning and debt collection process
Companies incur various costs due to late payment. Pursuant to Section 1333 Austrian Civil Code (ABGB), the creditor of the invoice is entitled to compensation for the damage incurred by the late payment. This also includes costs incurred, for example, by commissioning specialised partners such as lawyers or debt collection companies. In Austria, there is a regulation governing the costs in such situations, the regulation of the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs on the maximum rates of remuneration payable by debt collection agencies. This regulation regulates the maximum costs.
Even though PAIR Finance keeps costs as low as possible through optimised processes and communication that is as efficient as possible for the debtor, a delayed agreement in the process leads to significantly increasing costs for the debtor.

We are sorry that you are not satisfied with our service. Every day, our team does everything to make debt collection easy for consumers and businesses. You can submit a complaint on this page.

Each debt collection company in Austria must register as a trade in accordance with Section 118 of the Trade Regulation Act with the local competent authority and be entered in the company register. Authorisation as a registered debt collection business is linked, among other things, to the suitability, reliability and theoretical and practical expertise of the persons acting in the company.

Yes, PAIR Finance is registered in Austria as a debt collection business in accordance with Section 118 Trade Regulation Act (GewO).

If you have been contacted by us, then we, as a debt collection service provider, have been commissioned by a company to work with you to find a solution for an outstanding payment. You should originally have made this payment to this company because you have or have had a purchase contract or service contract there.

In order for us to remind you of the open claim and enable an amicable repayment, we must of course be able to contact you. Therefore, our client may and must forward your personal data to us, such as your name and address, the basis and amount of the claim, etc. Only with this data is it possible for us to approach you and assert the claim.

Furthermore, it may be the case that we are not supposed to mediate in relation to a claim against you, but against a third party, and that we will contact you in this context. This may be the case if you are appointed as a carer or have been mandated as a result of your work as a lawyer. In these cases, your contact details for the debt file will be stored as a correspondence address and you will also receive information on the processing of your personal data by the debt collection company in accordance with Art. 13 or 14 GDPR.

As a registered debt collection service provider, PAIR Finance may generally process all data required to collect a claim. For this purpose, data on the person of the debtor is regularly required, e.g. name, address and telephone number as well as on the claim to be collected, i.e. in particular the reason for the claim, amount and due date.

Furthermore, PAIR Finance may also determine, store and use information itself if this is necessary for the processing of the respective case. This includes, in particular, obtaining credit reports, determining addresses and other data required to assess the claim.

Any company is free to seek the assistance of a lawyer or a debt collection company with regard to an – even if only alleged – open claim. In cases of an open, possibly also disputed claim, a company may and must pass on personal data, in particular name and address, the reason for the claim, the amount of the claim and the due date of the claim, to PAIR Finance. Only with this data is it possible for us to get in touch with you and offer a solution for an open claim.

Consent for the transfer of data to a legal service provider is not required. The activities of PAIR Finance are subject to data protection law due to the legal circumstances of Art. 6 (1) sentence 1 lit. b) and lit. f) GDPR (data processing for the performance of contracts, data processing on the basis of the creditor’s legitimate interest).

As a so-called “data subject”, you have the right to have your personal data erased in accordance with Article 17 (1) GDPR under the conditions specified therein. This right is taken very seriously by PAIR Finance, as are the other rights under the GDPR. We have therefore developed a blocking and deletion concept for all data we process.

However, the legislator has also taken into account that the consent of the other party is not always required for the purpose of asserting open claims. Therefore, there is no right to erasure of data if a company processes your data to assert, exercise or defend legal claims. This results from Article 17 (3) lit. e) GDPR. Personal data may therefore continue to be stored as long as open claims still exist and are processed as part of the debt collection activity. After discontinuation of the debt collection procedure, the data are no longer required for the fulfilment of the debt collection procedure and would in principle have to be erased in accordance with Art. 17 (1) lit. a).

However, erasure is replaced by restricted processing if legal, statutory or contractual retention periods prevent erasure (Art. 17 (3) lit. b) GDPR). Personal data must of course also be retained further due to commercial or tax regulations; however, this will only be done for this purpose. These deadlines may vary. Section 212 of the Commercial Code (UGB) and Section 132 of the Federal Tax Code (BAO) provide for deletion periods of up to seven years.

The exercise of the right to object to the processing of data on the basis of a weighing of interests (Art. 6 (1) lit. f) GDPR) pursuant to Art. 21 (1) GDPR requires you to assert specific reasons to PAIR Finance that arise from your particular situation. This means that you have to demonstrate that and why in your particular case it is an atypical constellation that gives special weight to your interests. It is not sufficient, for example, to deny the claim ("I have not concluded a contract") or to state that the creditor’s performance was incorrect or did not take place.

However, the right to object does not apply under Art. 21 (1) GDPR if the processing of the data serves the assertion, exercise or defence of legal claims. In the case constellations typical in the context of debt collection processes (collection of open claims), your objection to our data processing will therefore ultimately be in vain. How else should it even be possible to collect claims if the processing of the information could be prevented. Quite logical.

In principle, PAIR Finance may request credit rating data from credit agencies on the basis of Art. 6 (1) sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR if there is a legitimate interest in this data collection. Such an interest is to be affirmed on our part, e.g. if a decision to take further measures involves a financial default risk – including with regard to the debt collection fees incurred.

Credit agencies also provide information on current address data. PAIR Finance may therefore also research address data with credit agencies, as these provide information for a fraction of the costs of a resident registration request – this must already be taken into account from the point of view of the obligation to minimise damage.

The reporting of unpaid claims to an economic credit agency, such as Crif GmbH, is possible under the conditions of the GDPR. This is permitted on the basis of the legitimate interest in any case if the claim is recognised by you or if it was titled as part of a judicial dunning procedure, for example.

Another common reason for reporting claims to credit agencies is that the payment has been dunned at least twice in writing, at least four weeks have passed since the first dunning, you have been informed of the upcoming report to a credit agency and the claim has not been disputed. In such cases, the legitimate interest within the meaning of Art. 6 (1) lit. f) GDPR also applies.