In short. In Geneva, an unpaid claim is usually collected through debt enforcement proceedings, started with the cantonal debt enforcement office. The debtor can object to the payment order within ten days, without giving reasons. What happens next depends on the document you hold. A judgment allows a definitive setting aside of the objection. A signed acknowledgment of debt, or a signed contract you have performed, allows a provisional setting aside, after which the debtor has 20 days to go to court. With invoices and emails only, you need a full lawsuit, preceded by conciliation. The right to continue the enforcement lapses after one year, unless court proceedings are pending.
An invoice for CHF 18,400, four months overdue, three reminders unanswered, then an email in which the client suddenly finds defects in the work delivered. Or a loan of CHF 50,000 to a former business partner, repayable at the end of June, and silence since. The first reflex is often to send a payment order. It has its place. But the order in which you act, and above all the document you hold, decide what follows.
Debt enforcement is routine in Switzerland. In 2025, 3,147,160 debt enforcement proceedings were initiated, including 3,031,541 payment orders, and 12,485 bankruptcy proceedings were opened against companies, 61.2% more than in 2024, according to the Federal Statistical Office (press release of 21 May 2026).
What should you check before starting debt enforcement?
The debtor’s seat or domicile. A company registered in the commercial register is pursued at its registered office, an individual at his domicile (art. 46 DEBA). That place determines the competent office and, later, the court that will rule on the objection. As a rule, a debtor based in Lausanne cannot be pursued in Geneva.
Whether the claim is due, and whether the debtor is in default. Where no payment date was agreed, the creditor puts the debtor in default by a demand (art. 102 para. 1 CO), and default interest then runs at 5% a year (art. 104 para. 1 CO). A clear letter of demand with a deadline will also serve as evidence later.
Time limits. Claims are generally time-barred after ten years (art. 127 CO), but after five years for, among others, periodic payments, craftsmen’s work, retail supplies and the services of lawyers, doctors and notaries (art. 128 CO). Debt enforcement interrupts the limitation period (art. 135 no. 2 CO), and a new period starts to run (art. 137 para. 1 CO).
How does a Swiss payment order work?
In Geneva, the request for debt enforcement is filed with the cantonal debt enforcement office, online through the federal EasyGov portal or by post. It states the creditor and the debtor, the amount in Swiss francs with any interest rate and the date from which it runs, and the document on which the claim is based and its date or, failing that, the cause of the obligation (art. 67 para. 1 DEBA). The office issues the payment order on receipt of the request (art. 69 para. 1 DEBA), without deciding at that stage whether the debt exists.
The payment order calls on the debtor to pay within 20 days and warns him that he must object within ten days if he disputes the debt (art. 69 para. 2 DEBA). The objection can be made orally or in writing and needs no reasons (art. 74 para. 1 and 75 para. 1 DEBA). It stops the enforcement. To resume it, the creditor needs a decision that expressly sets the objection aside (art. 79 DEBA).
The proceedings appear in the debt enforcement register, which third parties can consult if they show a plausible interest (art. 8a para. 1 DEBA). For a debtor looking for a flat or a loan, that entry matters. Three months after service of the payment order, however, a debtor who has objected may ask that the entry no longer be disclosed to third parties, unless the creditor proves, within 20 days set by the office, that he started proceedings to have the objection set aside in time (art. 8a para. 3 let. d DEBA, as in force since 1 January 2026). It is better not to let those three months pass without acting.
The debtor objected. What happens next?
The route depends entirely on the document you hold.
You hold a judgment or a court settlement
This is the strongest position. An enforceable judgment, a court settlement or an enforceable public deed allows a definitive setting aside of the objection (art. 80 DEBA). The debtor can then essentially only show by documents that the debt was extinguished, for example by payment, or deferred after the judgment, or plead limitation (art. 81 para. 1 DEBA). Against a foreign judgment, he may also raise the defences provided by the applicable treaty, such as the Lugano Convention, or failing that by the Private International Law Act (art. 81 para. 3 DEBA).
You hold a signed acknowledgment of debt or a signed contract
An acknowledgment of debt in a public deed or signed by the debtor allows the creditor to request a provisional setting aside of the objection (art. 82 para. 1 DEBA). According to the Federal Supreme Court, this means in particular a document signed by the debtor showing his intention to pay the creditor, without reservation or condition, a sum of money that is fixed or easily determinable, and due (BGE 145 III 20, E. 4.1.1). A written contract can be enough. In a contract with obligations on both sides, the creditor must however prove that he performed, or offered to perform, his own side (same decision). For a loan, the contract is a valid title as long as the debtor does not dispute receiving the funds. If he does, the creditor must also prove the payout, and repayment must in any event have fallen due (BGE 136 III 627, E. 2).
The court grants the provisional setting aside unless the debtor immediately shows it is plausible that he does not owe the sum (art. 82 para. 2 DEBA). The procedure is summary, without conciliation (art. 251 let. a and 198 let. a CPC), and the law provides that the court notifies its decision within five days after giving the debtor the opportunity to respond (art. 84 para. 2 DEBA). In Geneva, the Court of First Instance exercises the powers the DEBA gives to the court (art. 86 para. 3 let. a of the Geneva Judicial Organisation Act).
The real advantage comes afterwards. Once the objection is provisionally set aside, the debtor must bring an action for a declaration that the debt does not exist, within 20 days and at the place of enforcement (art. 83 para. 2 DEBA). If he does not, the setting aside becomes definitive (para. 3). If he does, the procedural roles are reversed but the burden of proof is not, so the creditor, now defendant, must still prove that the claim exists and is due (BGE 130 III 285, E. 5.3.1). In the meantime, once the payment period has expired, the creditor can request a provisional seizure or, against a debtor subject to bankruptcy, ask the court for an inventory of assets (art. 83 para. 1 DEBA).
You only have invoices, purchase orders and emails
A common situation, and the slowest. An invoice comes from the creditor, carries no signature of the debtor and is therefore not an acknowledgment of debt. An email in which the debtor admits owing the money runs into the signature requirement. Swiss law requires a handwritten signature and treats a qualified electronic signature with a qualified time stamp as equivalent (art. 14 para. 1 and 2bis CO). An ordinary email, however explicit, will generally not do.
The creditor then has to have the claim recognised by a court (art. 79 DEBA). The lawsuit starts with an attempt at conciliation (art. 197 CPC), held in Geneva before the Court of First Instance. For claims up to CHF 10,000, the conciliation authority may put a proposed decision to the parties (art. 210 para. 1 let. c CPC), and up to CHF 30,000 the simplified procedure applies (art. 243 para. 1 CPC).
Before getting there, one precaution. A debtor who promises to pay in instalments can sign an acknowledgment of debt with a payment schedule. That single document changes the case. It opens the door to a provisional setting aside, interrupts limitation (art. 135 no. 1 CO) and starts a new ten-year period (art. 137 para. 2 CO).
Once the objection is set aside, how does the money come in?
The creditor asks the office to continue the enforcement. What follows depends on the debtor. A company or a sole proprietorship registered in the commercial register is subject to bankruptcy proceedings (art. 39 para. 1 DEBA). The office serves a bankruptcy warning (art. 159 DEBA), and after 20 days the creditor may ask the court to declare the debtor bankrupt (art. 166 para. 1 DEBA).
An individual who is not registered is subject to seizure of assets. If the seized assets do not cover the debt, the creditor receives a certificate of loss for the balance (art. 149 para. 1 DEBA). That certificate counts as an acknowledgment of debt (para. 2), and the claim it records is time-barred only after 20 years (art. 149a para. 1 DEBA).
What if the debtor is moving assets away?
An attachment (séquestre) freezes the debtor’s assets located in Switzerland, without prior enforcement proceedings. The law lists the cases, including a debtor who conceals assets, flees or prepares to flee to evade his obligations, a debtor who does not live in Switzerland where the claim has a sufficient connection with Switzerland or is based on an acknowledgment of debt, and a creditor who already holds a title for definitive setting aside (art. 271 para. 1 no. 2, 4 and 6 DEBA). The creditor must show that his claim, the ground for attachment and the existence of assets are plausible (art. 272 para. 1 DEBA), then validate the attachment by starting enforcement or a lawsuit within ten days (art. 279 para. 1 DEBA). It is an effective tool, provided you know where the assets are.
Where the money was obtained by deception, a criminal complaint may also be relevant. We discuss that line in our article unrepaid loan or fraud.
If you are a creditor outside Switzerland
You can request debt enforcement in Switzerland from abroad. A creditor living abroad states an address for service in Switzerland, failing which the debt enforcement office is deemed to be that address (art. 67 para. 1 no. 1 DEBA). The amount must be stated in Swiss francs (no. 3). A creditor who instructs a Geneva lawyer can elect domicile at the lawyer’s office.
Enforcement takes place where the debtor lives or has his registered office (art. 46 DEBA). A debtor domiciled abroad can still be pursued in Switzerland for the debts of his Swiss business establishment (art. 50 para. 1 DEBA). If you already hold a judgment from a Lugano Convention state, you can seek a definitive setting aside in Switzerland, subject to the defences provided by the Convention (art. 81 para. 3 DEBA), and the same judgment can support an attachment of Swiss assets (art. 271 para. 1 no. 6 and para. 3 DEBA). Where a creditor based in a Lugano state chooses enforcement at the debtor’s Swiss domicile, the debtor may bring his action for a declaration that the debt does not exist in Switzerland as well (BGE 130 III 285).
Key deadlines
- 10 days. Objection to the payment order (art. 74 para. 1 DEBA).
- 20 days. Payment period stated in the payment order (art. 69 para. 2 no. 2 DEBA). Without an objection, continuation can be requested once it expires (art. 88 para. 1 DEBA).
- 20 days. The debtor’s action against the claim after a provisional setting aside (art. 83 para. 2 DEBA).
- 3 months. After this period from service, the debtor may ask that an entry with an objection no longer be disclosed to third parties (art. 8a para. 3 let. d DEBA).
- 10 days. Validation of an attachment obtained without prior enforcement (art. 279 para. 1 DEBA).
- 1 year. Lapse of the right to request continuation of the enforcement (art. 88 para. 2 DEBA).
- 15 months. Lapse of the right to request bankruptcy (art. 166 para. 2 DEBA).
- 5 or 10 years. Limitation period for most claims (art. 127 and 128 CO).
Frequently asked questions
How do I collect an unpaid debt in Switzerland?
Send a formal demand, then file a request for debt enforcement with the office at the debtor’s domicile or registered office (art. 46 and 67 DEBA). The office serves a payment order. If the debtor objects within ten days, you need a court decision setting the objection aside, either summarily on the basis of a judgment or signed acknowledgment of debt, or through a lawsuit (art. 79 to 83 DEBA).
How much does a Swiss payment order cost?
The fee is set by a federal ordinance according to the amount claimed, for example CHF 60 for claims over CHF 1,000 and up to CHF 10,000 and CHF 90 for claims over CHF 10,000 and up to CHF 100,000, plus CHF 7 per attempt at service (art. 16 paras 1 and 3 of the Fees Ordinance, SR 281.35). The creditor advances the costs, which are ultimately borne by the debtor (art. 68 para. 1 DEBA).
What happens if the debtor objects to the payment order?
The enforcement stops until a court sets the objection aside (art. 79 DEBA). With a judgment you ask for a definitive setting aside, with a signed acknowledgment of debt or contract a provisional one, both in summary proceedings (art. 80 and 82 DEBA). Otherwise you must sue for recognition of the claim, starting with conciliation (art. 197 CPC).
Is an invoice enough to set aside an objection in Switzerland?
No. A provisional setting aside requires an acknowledgment of debt signed by the debtor, or a signed contract where the creditor proves he performed his own side (art. 82 DEBA, BGE 145 III 20, E. 4.1.1). An invoice is issued by the creditor himself. Without such a document, the claim must be established in an ordinary lawsuit (art. 79 DEBA).
Can I collect a debt in Switzerland if I live abroad?
Yes. You file the request from abroad with an address for service in Switzerland, failing which the office is treated as that address (art. 67 para. 1 no. 1 DEBA). A judgment from a Lugano Convention state can ground a definitive setting aside, subject to the Convention’s defences, and support an attachment of the debtor’s Swiss assets (art. 81 para. 3 and 271 para. 1 no. 6 DEBA).
How long does a Swiss debt enforcement remain valid?
The right to request continuation lapses one year after service of the payment order, but that period does not run during the court proceedings that follow an objection (art. 88 para. 2 DEBA). Against a debtor subject to bankruptcy, bankruptcy must be requested within fifteen months (art. 166 para. 2 DEBA).
Legal basis and case law
Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy Act (DEBA): art. 8a, 39, 46, 50, 67, 68, 69, 74, 75, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 88, 149, 149a, 159, 166, 271, 272 and 279. Civil Procedure Code (CPC): art. 197, 198, 210, 243 and 251. Code of Obligations (CO): art. 14, 102, 104, 127, 128, 135 and 137. Fees Ordinance (SR 281.35): art. 16. Geneva Judicial Organisation Act (LOJ/GE): art. 86.
Case law: BGE 145 III 20, E. 4.1.1, BGE 130 III 285, E. 5.3.1 and BGE 136 III 627, E. 2.
Sources: Federal Statistical Office, press release of 21 May 2026 (debt enforcement and bankruptcies in 2025). State of Geneva, filing a request for debt enforcement (in French). DEBA, Civil Procedure Code and Code of Obligations on Fedlex.
About this type of case
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A first meeting, with the contract, the invoices, the correspondence and any payment order already served, tells you which document you really hold and which route is the shortest, and gives an estimate of what collection will cost compared with the amount at stake. The firm acts for companies and self-employed clients from the formal demand to seizure or bankruptcy and, where the debtor has disappeared with the funds, on the criminal side and asset tracing (see fraud and asset recovery). To discuss your case: +41 22 512 76 00 or use the contact form.