General terms and conditions

Subject to differing individual agreements, the client is entitled to submit any number of claims and the associated invoice or claim documents via the service portal and to have them processed within the scope of out-of-court receivables management (standard services).

Fortis is entitled to make access to the service portal and/or individual functionalities dependent on the fulfilment of duties to cooperate, the deposit of complete master data and the timely payment of due fees.

Fortis owes the provision of the service portal in its respective current version within the scope of the technical and operational possibilities. There is no entitlement to uninterrupted availability at all times; Fortis is entitled to maintenance windows and technically necessary interruptions.

Access data must be kept secret and protected from access by third parties. Uses under proper use of the access data are deemed, in the relationship between Fortis and the client, to have been initiated by the client, unless the client proves that no fault lies with them.

The order is placed by handing over/transmitting the debtor and claim data; it is not necessarily concluded merely by completing a contact form. All offers made by Fortis are non-binding; in particular, time specifications (execution deadlines, etc.) are non-binding unless their binding nature is expressly promised.

Without a separate and remunerated order, Fortis does not examine objections and defences against the claim assigned to it for collection.

Fortis’s remuneration is governed, insofar as legally applicable, by the provisions of the Legal Services Act (RDG) and the Lawyers’ Remuneration Act (RVG). The statutory provisions apply to reimbursability from the debtor, in particular Section 13e RDG; in the case of a combined engagement of a debt collection service provider and a lawyer, Section 13f RDG applies in addition. Insofar as Fortis asserts costs, fees, disbursements or ancillary claims against the debtor, this is only done to the extent permitted by law.

Third-party costs and disbursements, in particular court and bailiff costs, register enquiries, residents’ registration office enquiries, detective agency and authority costs, service of documents, translations, international collection costs and the costs of engaged lawyers/partner law firms, are borne by the client insofar as these cannot be realised from the debtor or have been advanced by Fortis. Fortis is entitled to demand a reasonable advance for incurred or expected third-party costs and disbursements, or the immediate provision of the specifically requested amounts, prior to carrying out the respective measure.

Fortis is entitled to take all measures that are conducive to the collection of the claim. Fortis may agree instalment payments and deferrals with debtors, accept payments and – insofar as legally permissible and expedient – conclude agreements and waivers regarding the principal claim, ancillary claims and costs.

If out-of-court collection efforts remain unsuccessful or if judicial pursuit appears expedient, Fortis initiates judicial dunning proceedings, applies for an enforcement order or pursues other judicial measures only on the basis of a separate order. Judicial measures are only initiated after the requested court costs, disbursements and advances have been provided. Fortis’s remuneration for dunning proceedings, enforcement order, compulsory enforcement and other judicial measures becomes due for payment vis-à-vis the client at the latest upon filing/applying for the respective measure. In the event of an objection, appeal or contested proceedings, Fortis is entitled, after separate agreement, to engage a lawyer or a partner law firm; the relevant contractual relationship in this respect is then established directly between the client and the lawyer, unless expressly agreed otherwise.

This Section 4 contains the remuneration agreement for the out-of-court debt collection services of Fortis.

For the out-of-court processing of a claim, the client owes remuneration exclusively in the event of success. Success exists as soon as payments, partial payments, set-offs, credit notes, settlement amounts, proceeds from securities or other economic realisations are made in full or in part on the transferred claim or on ancillary claims; direct payments by the debtor to the client are equivalent to success.

In the event of success, Fortis’s success-based remuneration is measured according to the statutory remuneration due to a lawyer for the specific out-of-court activity under the RVG, including legally permissible disbursements and value added tax, insofar as it applies. The remuneration only becomes due in each case to the extent that, and as soon as, economic realisations exist. Fortis is entitled to cover, offset and retain the due remuneration from incoming or realised amounts within the framework of the collective settlement pursuant to Section 6. Without success, no remuneration is incurred for the out-of-court collection activity.

Insofar as the debtor pays collection costs, disbursements or other ancillary claims attributable to the out-of-court activity to Fortis or to the client, these are credited against Fortis’s remuneration claims. Fortis is entitled to collect, retain and/or offset such amounts within the framework of the collective settlement.

The client hereby assigns to Fortis – insofar as legally permissible – all claims for reimbursement of the collection costs as well as all claims for payment of default interest from the claims submitted to Fortis; Fortis accepts the assignment. Insofar as default interest is realised, it is due to Fortis as an additional success-based remuneration component and is not to be paid out to the client.

This remuneration agreement concerns exclusively the out-of-court collection activity. Court costs, bailiff costs, costs of the judicial dunning procedure, costs of an enforcement order, costs of compulsory enforcement, costs of engaged lawyers/partner law firms and other third-party costs and disbursements are not covered by this and are to be borne separately by the client in accordance with these GTC or advanced upon request.

The agreement on the contingency fee is based in particular on the default and collection risk, the pre-financing and processing effort of Fortis, the uncertain realisability of the costs vis-à-vis the debtor in individual cases, and the client’s interest in not owing any remuneration for unsuccessful out-of-court activities.

In the event of early termination of the order before success occurs, no success-based remuneration is incurred for the out-of-court activity performed up to that point. However, if, after termination of the order, payments or other economic realisations are still made on the basis of a payment, instalment or settlement agreement initiated or concluded by Fortis during the term of the contract, or on the basis of other measures initiated by Fortis, the success-based remuneration under the preceding paragraphs remains owed.

A contingency fee is not agreed insofar as the collection service relates to a claim that is not subject to attachment.

Note: Collection costs are only reimbursable from the debtor up to the amount of the remuneration due to a lawyer under the RVG.

For the duration of the order, the claim may be processed by the client neither directly nor indirectly. In particular, the client may not hand over the claim documents to a lawyer or another debt collection company simultaneously or after placing the order for the purpose of examination and assertion. The client also ceases all of its own collection efforts against the debtor. Anything else only applies if an agreement to this effect has been made with Fortis.

The client undertakes to support Fortis in carrying out the order and, in particular, after placing the order, to refrain from any contact regarding the disputed claim with the debtor, i.e. no longer to correspond or negotiate with them and not to initiate any of its own judicial steps, unless expressly agreed otherwise.

Incoming payments, partial payments, set-offs, credit notes, realisation of securities, instalment or settlement agreements and other events affecting the realisation of the claim must be reported to Fortis without delay. This also applies to direct payments by the debtor to the client. Such direct payments are deemed, in the relationship between client and Fortis, to be an economic realisation and may be taken into account, settled and offset by Fortis within the framework of the collective settlement.

The client is liable to Fortis for the legal existence of the claim transferred for collection and for the consequences of incomplete or incorrect information. If, as a result of this incomplete or incorrect information, third parties assert claims for damages against Fortis, the client indemnifies Fortis against these claims.

Insofar as the debtor owes several claims, the discharge of the individual claims is governed first by an effective allocation determination by the debtor and otherwise by the statutory provisions. Within the respective claim concerned, incoming payments are – insofar as legally permissible – credited first to costs, then to interest and lastly to the principal claim.

Fortis is entitled to keep an internal client account for each client. On this account, all items arising from the contractual relationship are recorded in consolidated form, in particular Fortis’s remuneration claims, advanced and requested third-party costs, court costs, bailiff costs, costs of engaged lawyers/partner law firms, disbursements, cost reimbursement claims, default interest, principal claim shares, credit notes, charge-backs and other balance items.

All payments, partial payments, credit notes, set-offs, settlement amounts, realisations of securities or other economic realisations received by Fortis or directly by the client from all claim matters of the same client processed by Fortis are first recorded in the client account.

Fortis is entitled, insofar as legally permissible, within the framework of a cross-case collective settlement, to set off all due claims existing against the client from all collection orders – irrespective of the legal grounds and also from matters processed in parallel or at different times – against any pay-out claims of the client, and/or to exercise a right of retention until settlement. This includes in particular success-based remuneration claims, assigned default interest, advanced or requested third-party costs, court fees, costs of the dunning procedure, costs of compulsory enforcement, costs of engaged lawyers/partner law firms, direct debit return costs and other disbursements.

Insofar as no mandatory statutory requirements, effective allocation determinations by the debtor or superior third-party rights conflict with this, Fortis is entitled to carry out the accounting allocation and offsetting of incoming payments to individual items of the client account at its reasonable discretion.

The respective collective settlement, individual settlement or other offsetting declaration in text form simultaneously serves as a declaration of set-off. A pay-out claim of the client only arises to the extent that, and as soon as, after complete recording and offsetting of all of Fortis’s due claims, a positive balance remains in favour of the client and no justified retentions on account of charge-back, reclaim, objection or clarification periods, ongoing third-party costs or other fee/cost risks exist any longer.

Insofar as amounts are due to Fortis after assignment, set-off, offsetting or on the basis of a right of retention, these are not third-party funds to be paid out to the client. Otherwise, third-party funds are treated in accordance with the statutory requirements. Third-party fund amounts do not bear interest.

Depending on the means of payment used, Fortis may defer the settlement of a third-party fund share contained therein until the expiry of customary charge-back, chargeback or objection periods.

A set-off by the client is only permissible with undisputed or legally established counterclaims.

Each collection order may be terminated by the client at any time in text form. In the event of termination or other ending, success-based remuneration due up to that point pursuant to Section 4 (including remuneration components subsequently becoming due pursuant to Section 4 (8)), advanced or requested third-party costs, court costs, costs of judicial measures, costs of compulsory enforcement, costs of engaged lawyers/partner law firms and other disbursements remain unaffected.

The termination or other ending requires text form (email is sufficient), unless a stricter form is mandatorily prescribed.

With regard to the enforcement documents, including the enforcement title, there is a right of retention until the incurred and invoiced costs have been paid by the client.

Fortis is entitled to terminate the order relationship if the client, after placing the order, negotiates with the debtor on its own authority without Fortis’s consent or continues to take action against them. If the client does not respond to Fortis’s enquiries for longer than one month and after two requests, Fortis may terminate the order. Fortis’s claims already due, as well as advanced or requested costs and disbursements, remain in place in these cases.

Fortis and the client are mutually obliged to treat all information and documents obtained in connection with the execution of the order as strictly confidential. This also applies after termination.

Within the scope of the applicable data protection laws, Fortis is entitled to collect, process, use and store all necessary data. In particular, Fortis is entitled, while observing the data protection provisions, to obtain data from credit agencies (e.g. SCHUFA) and to make reports there, insofar as this is necessary for enforcing the claim and within the legal framework.

The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies exclusively, to the exclusion of foreign law and international sales law. In the case of merchants, legal entities under public law or special funds under public law, the place of jurisdiction is Düsseldorf. The same place of jurisdiction applies if the client has no general place of jurisdiction in the Federal Republic of Germany at the time judicial proceedings are initiated.

Amendments and additions to these GTC require text form, unless a stricter form is prescribed by law.

Should a provision of these GTC be or become invalid or unenforceable, the validity of the remaining provisions remains unaffected. In place of the invalid/unenforceable provision, a provision that comes closest to the economic purpose is deemed to have been agreed. The same applies to gaps in the provisions.

As of: May 2026