§ 2 Access; standard services

1. Subject to any individual agreements to the contrary, the client is entitled to submit any number of claims and associated invoice or claim documents via the service portal and to have them processed as part of out-of-court claims management (standard services).
2. Fortis is entitled to make access to the service portal and/or individual functionalities dependent on the fulfillment of obligations to cooperate, the deposit of complete master data and the timely payment of fees due.
3. Fortis owes the provision of the Service Portal in its current version within the scope of technical and operational possibilities. There is no entitlement to uninterrupted availability at all times; Fortis is entitled to maintenance windows and interruptions for technical reasons.
4. Access data must be kept secret and protected from access by third parties. In the relationship between Fortis and the customer, any use of the access data shall be deemed to have been initiated by the customer, unless the customer proves that it is not at fault.

B. Collection order / performance of services

§ 3 Placing of order and object of performance

1. The order is placed by handing over/transmitting the debtor and claim data; it is not necessarily concluded simply by filling out 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 agreed.
2. Fortis shall not examine objections and defenses to the claim assigned to it for collection without a separate order requiring payment.
3. Fortis' remuneration is based on the provisions of the German Legal Services Act (RDG) and the German Lawyers' Fees Act (RVG), insofar as legally relevant. The statutory provisions, in particular Section 13e RDG, apply to the reimbursement of the debtor; Section 13f RDG also applies to the combined commissioning of a debt collection service provider and a lawyer. Insofar as Fortis asserts costs, fees, expenses or ancillary claims against the debtor, this shall only be done to the extent permitted by law.
4. Third-party costs and expenses, in particular court and bailiff costs, register information, registration office inquiries, detective and authority costs, service of documents, translations, foreign collection costs and the costs of commissioned lawyers/partner law firms, shall be borne by the client, unless they can be realized by the debtor or have been disbursed by Fortis. Fortis shall be entitled to demand a reasonable advance payment or the immediate provision of the specific amounts requested for third-party costs and expenses incurred or expected to be incurred prior to the implementation of the respective measure.
5. Fortis is entitled to take all measures that are conducive to the collection of the claim. Fortis may agree installment payments and deferments with debtors, accept payments and - where legally permissible and appropriate - enter into agreements and waivers with regard to the principal claim, ancillary claims and costs.
6. If out-of-court collection efforts remain unsuccessful or if legal action appears appropriate, Fortis will initiate legal dunning proceedings, apply for an enforcement order or take other legal action only on the basis of a separate order. Legal action will only be initiated after the requested court costs, expenses and advances have been provided. The remuneration of Fortis for dunning procedures, enforcement orders, compulsory enforcement and other judicial measures shall be due for payment to the client at the latest upon submission/application for the respective measure. In the event of an objection, appeal or disputed execution, Fortis shall be entitled to engage a lawyer or a partner law firm by separate agreement; the contractual relationship in this respect shall be concluded directly between the client and the lawyer, unless expressly agreed otherwise.

§ Section 4 Remuneration in extrajudicial proceedings; legal bases; reference to success; default interest

1. This § 4 contains the remuneration agreement for the extrajudicial collection services of Fortis.
2. The client shall only owe remuneration for the out-of-court processing of a claim in the event of success. Success is deemed to exist as soon as payments, partial payments, set-offs, credit notes, settlement amounts, proceeds from securities or other economic realizations are made in full or in part on the claim transferred or on ancillary claims; direct payments by the debtor to the client are equivalent to success.
3. In the event of success, Fortis' success-based remuneration shall be based on the statutory remuneration to which a lawyer is entitled for the specific extrajudicial activity in accordance with the RVG, including legally permissible expenses and VAT, insofar as this is incurred. The remuneration shall only become due to the extent that and as soon as there is economic realization. Fortis is entitled to cover, offset and retain the remuneration due from amounts received or realized within the scope of the collective settlement in accordance with § 6. In the absence of success, no remuneration shall be due for extrajudicial collection activities.
4. Insofar as the debtor pays collection costs, expenses or other ancillary claims relating to the extrajudicial activity to Fortis or to the client, these shall be offset against Fortis' claims for remuneration. Fortis is entitled to collect such amounts, retain them and/or offset them as part of the collective settlement.
5. The Customer hereby assigns to Fortis - to the extent legally permissible - all claims for reimbursement of collection costs and all claims for payment of default interest arising from the claims submitted to Fortis; Fortis accepts the assignment. Insofar as interest on arrears is realized, Fortis shall be entitled to it as an additional performance-related remuneration component and shall not be paid to the client.
6. This remuneration agreement relates exclusively to extrajudicial debt collection activities. Court costs, bailiff's costs, costs of judicial dunning proceedings, costs of an enforcement order, costs of enforcement, costs of commissioned lawyers/partner law firms and other third-party costs and expenses are not covered by this and are to be borne separately by the client in accordance with these GTC or paid in advance on request.
7. The agreement of the success fee is based in particular on the default and recovery risk, the pre-financing and processing costs incurred by Fortis, the uncertainty in individual cases as to whether the costs can be realized vis-à-vis the debtor and the client's interest in not owing any remuneration for unsuccessful extrajudicial activities.
8. In the event of premature termination of the assignment before a successful outcome is achieved, no success-based remuneration is due for the extrajudicial work performed up to that point. However, if payments or other economic realizations are made after the termination of the assignment due to a payment, instalment payment or settlement agreement initiated or concluded by Fortis during the term of the contract or due to other measures initiated by Fortis, the success-based remuneration shall remain due in accordance with the above paragraphs.
9. A success fee is not agreed if the debt collection service relates to a claim that is not subject to seizure.
10. Note: Collection costs are only recoverable from the debtor up to the amount of the remuneration to which a lawyer is entitled under the RVG.

§ 5 Obligations of the client to cooperate

1. During the term of the order, the claim may not be processed by the client either directly or indirectly. In particular, the client may not hand over the claim documents to a lawyer or another debt collection company for the purpose of checking and asserting the claim, either at the same time or after the order has been placed. The client shall also cease all own collection efforts against the debtor. Anything to the contrary shall only apply if an agreement to this effect has been made with Fortis.
2. The client undertakes to support Fortis in the execution of the order and, in particular, to refrain from any contact with the debtor in relation to the disputed claim after the order has been placed, i.e. to refrain from corresponding or negotiating with the debtor and to refrain from taking any legal action of its own, unless expressly agreed otherwise.
3. Fortis must be informed immediately of any incoming payments, partial payments, offsetting, credit notes, realization of securities, agreements on payment by instalments or settlement agreements and other events affecting the realization of the claim. This shall also apply to direct payments made by the debtor to the customer. In the relationship between the customer and Fortis, such direct payments are deemed to be economic realization and can be taken into account, settled and offset by Fortis as part of the collective settlement.
4. The customer is liable to Fortis for the legal validity of the claim transferred for collection and for the consequences of incomplete or incorrect information. The customer shall indemnify Fortis against any claims for damages asserted by third parties against Fortis as a result of such incomplete or incorrect information.

§ 6 Settlement sequence; collective settlement; offsetting; assignment

1. If the debtor owes several claims, the repayment of the individual claims shall initially be based on an effective repayment provision of the debtor and otherwise in accordance with the statutory provisions. Within the respective claim concerned, incoming payments shall - insofar as legally permissible - first be offset against costs, then against interest and finally against the principal claim.
2. Fortis is entitled to maintain an internal client account for each client. All items arising from the contractual relationship are consolidated in this account, in particular remuneration claims by Fortis, disbursed and requested third-party costs, court costs, bailiff's costs, costs of commissioned lawyers/partner law firms, expenses, cost reimbursement claims, default interest, principal claim shares, credit notes, chargebacks and other balance items.
3. All payments, partial payments, credit notes, offsets, settlement amounts, collateral realizations or other economic realizations received by Fortis or directly by the client from all receivables matters of the same client processed by Fortis are initially recorded in the client account.
4. Fortis is entitled, insofar as legally permissible, to offset all claims due against the Client from all collection orders - irrespective of the legal basis and also from matters processed in parallel or at different times - against any claims for payment of the Client and/or to exercise a right of retention until such offsetting. This includes in particular performance-related remuneration claims, assigned default interest, disbursed or requested third-party costs, court fees, costs of dunning proceedings, costs of enforcement, costs of commissioned lawyers/partner law firms, return debit note costs and other expenses.
5. Insofar as there are no mandatory legal requirements, effective repayment provisions of the debtor or overriding rights of third parties to the contrary, Fortis is entitled to allocate and offset incoming payments to individual items of the client account at its reasonable discretion.
6. The respective collective invoice, individual invoice or other offsetting declaration in text form shall also be deemed a declaration of set-off. The client shall only be entitled to payment if and as soon as a positive balance remains in favor of the client after all due claims of Fortis have been fully recorded and offset and there are no longer any justified retentions due to chargeback, reclaim, objection or clarification periods, ongoing third-party costs or other fee/cost risks.
7. Insofar as amounts are due to Fortis following assignment, offsetting, netting or on the basis of a right of retention, these are not third-party monies to be paid out to the client. In all other respects, third-party funds shall be treated in accordance with the statutory provisions. Third-party funds do not bear interest.
8. Depending on the means of payment used to make a payment, Fortis may defer the settlement of any third-party funds contained therein until the expiry of the usual chargeback or objection periods.
9. Offsetting by the client is only permitted with undisputed or legally established counterclaims.

§ 7 Termination of individual collection orders; right of retention

1. Each collection order may be terminated by the client at any time in text form. In the event of termination or other termination, performance-related remuneration due up to that point in time in accordance with § 4 (including remuneration components falling due later in accordance with § 4 Para. 8), disbursed or requested third-party costs, court costs, costs of legal measures, costs of enforcement, costs of commissioned lawyers/partner law firms and other expenses shall remain unaffected.
2. Cancellation or other termination must be in text form (e-mail is sufficient), unless a stricter form is mandatory.
3. There is a right of retention with regard to the enforcement documents, including the enforcement order, until payment of the costs incurred and invoiced by the client.
4. Fortis is entitled to terminate the contractual relationship if the client negotiates with the debtor without Fortis' consent or continues to take action against the debtor after the order has been placed. If the customer does not respond to Fortis' inquiries for more than one month and after two requests, Fortis may terminate the contract. In such cases, any claims already due to Fortis and any costs and expenses disbursed or requested shall remain unaffected.

§ 8 Confidentiality

Fortis and the customer are mutually obliged to treat all information and documents obtained in connection with the execution of the order as strictly confidential. This shall also apply after completion.

§ 9 Data protection

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 to obtain data from credit agencies (e.g. SCHUFA) in compliance with the provisions of data protection law and to make reports to them insofar as this is necessary to enforce the claim and within the legal framework.

§ 10 Place of jurisdiction / Applicable law

The law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply 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 shall be Düsseldorf. The same place of jurisdiction shall apply if the client does not have a general place of jurisdiction in the Federal Republic of Germany at the time legal proceedings are initiated.

§ 11 Final provisions

1. Amendments and supplements to these GTC must be made in text form, unless a stricter form is prescribed by law.
2. Should any provision of these GTC be or become invalid or unenforceable, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. In place of the invalid/unenforceable provision, a provision that comes closest to the economic purpose shall be deemed to have been agreed. The same applies to loopholes.

Status: May 2026