Debt-collection clause in terms and conditions loses out to consumer protection

Corporate Law

24 November 2023

Debt-collection clause in terms and conditions loses out to consumer protection

Stelt u zich eens voor: u werkt al jaren met dezelfde zelfstandige. Hij stuurt facturen, factureert btw en heeft een eigen kvk-nummer. Toch krijgt u in 2026 ineens vragen van de Belastingdienst over de aard van uw samenwerking. Hoe heeft het zo ver kunnen komen?

When an invoice is not paid on time, the creditor may, under certain conditions, charge collection costs on the outstanding amount. A statutory scheme applies to this (see the table below) to protect consumers. Yet there are creditors who have included rules on collection costs in their terms and conditions that deviate from the statutory scheme. In principle, this is only permitted as long as the debtor is acting in the exercise of a profession or business — in so-called B2B relationships. However, a creditor is bound by this scale where the other party is a consumer.

Principal amount	Amount of collection costs*
On the first € 2,500	15% (minimum € 40)
On the next € 2,500	10%
On the next € 5,000	5%
On the next € 190,000	1%
On the remainder	0.5% (max. total € 6,775)

Case and the statutory scheme for extrajudicial collection costs

A landlord from The Hague also got this badly wrong, and as a result the collection clause in the general lease terms and conditions had no legal effect. The tenant could therefore not be held to this “unfair term” and did not have to pay the collection costs. In this case, the tenant of an apartment had by then built up a rent arrears of around €12,000. The collection clause allowed the landlord, in the event of late payment, to charge the tenant an additional 15% on the amount of rent owed, with a minimum of €125.

The subdistrict court annulled this clause because this percentage conflicted with the collection scale set out above. Under this scale, 15% only applies to the first €2,500 of the principal amount. After that, the percentage decreases. In addition, the minimum amount of collection costs is €40, not €125.

Send a notice of default first!

Separately from this, the scale for extrajudicial collection costs may only be charged under the following conditions:

First, the creditor must send a reminder (notice of default) with a payment term for the outstanding amount within 14 days of receipt of the reminder.
This reminder must also announce the consequences if payment is not made on time, in particular stating the amount of the collection costs and any applicable VAT.

Watch out for consumer protection in your terms and conditions

The reason the court annulled the clause in the case above is that it is prohibited for businesses to include terms and conditions that are too detrimental to the consumer, in view of the consumer’s vulnerable position in commercial dealings. So watch out for this when drafting your terms and conditions.

To prevent such situations, the law includes a list of unfair terms that may not be used towards consumers. This also includes a statutorily deviating collection clause. These are set out in the so-called black and grey lists of terms that businesses i) may not include, and ii) should be cautious about including. So have your terms and conditions checked against these terms, to avoid being caught out and pursuing expensive proceedings only to lose.

If, as a business, you deal with both other businesses and consumers, it is important to use separate terms and conditions — one for consumers and one for businesses.

Do you have related questions yourself, or do you need help drafting terms and conditions? Then you can always contact the lawyers at The Legal Company by calling 020 345 0152 or emailing info@thelegalcompany.nl

De afgelopen jaren stonden in het teken van de Wet VBAR, het wetsvoorstel dat een einde moest maken aan onduidelijkheid over de zzp’er. Het kabinet heeft delen van dat voorstel inmiddels geschrapt. Op het eerste gezicht is dat goed nieuws: minder regels, minder administratieve last. Maar in de praktijk blijven dezelfde toetsen overeind.

“De inhoud van de samenwerking is leidend, niet wat er op papier staat.”

De Belastingdienst handhaaft sinds 1 januari 2025 weer actief op schijnzelfstandigheid. En recente uitspraken van de Hoge Raad bevestigen dat rechters strikt toetsen of er sprake is van ondergeschiktheid en gezagsverhouding.

Voor uw praktijk betekent dit drie dingen. Een: leg de samenwerking duidelijk vast, met aandacht voor de inhoud. Twee: voorkom dat een zzp’er feitelijk werkt als werknemer. Drie: wees voorbereid op een controle, en weet hoe u de relatie kunt herzien als dat moet.

Heeft u vragen over uw concrete situatie? Wij sparren dagelijks met opdrachtgevers over hun zzp-relaties. Vraag een offerte op of bekijk onze Legal Safe abonnementen.