Courts, Codes and Three Languages
Commercial disputes go to the enterprise court - Ondernemingsrechtbank in Dutch, Tribunal de l'entreprise in French. Belgium's language legislation determines which language proceedings must be conducted in, based largely on the debtor's registered seat: Dutch in Flanders, French in Wallonia, either in Brussels, and German in the eastern cantons. Filing in the wrong language is a procedural problem, not a stylistic one, which is why identifying the debtor's seat comes before anything else.
IOS: An Enforceable Title Without a Court
The IOS procedure - invordering van onbetwiste geldschulden / recouvrement de créances incontestées - allows a creditor to recover an undisputed money debt between businesses through a bailiff rather than a judge. The bailiff serves a formal demand; the debtor has a set period to pay, agree terms or contest.
Where the debtor does none of those, the bailiff can obtain an enforceable title without any court hearing. The procedure is limited to B2B debts and to claims that are genuinely uncontested - a substantive objection takes the matter out of IOS and into ordinary proceedings. Establishing which side of that line your file sits on is the first assessment we make on a Belgian case.
What the Late Payment Act Adds
Belgium's law of 2 August 2002 on late payment in commercial transactions implements the EU Directive: statutory interest at the ECB reference rate plus eight percentage points runs automatically from the due date, together with a fixed sum for recovery costs and reasonable additional costs beyond it. The legislation also limits how far payment terms can be extended between businesses.
How Long Does a Belgian Claim Take?
| Stage | Typical Duration | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-legal demand Ingebrekestelling, negotiation | 2–5 weeks | Low |
| IOS procedure Bailiff demand to enforceable title | 2–4 months | Low |
| Enterprise court claim Where the debt is contested | 1–2 years | High |
| Enforcement Attachment by bailiff | 1–3 months | Medium |
IOS is available only for undisputed debts between businesses. A substantive objection moves the matter to ordinary proceedings.
How Does SXB Global Handle a Belgian Case?
We establish the debtor's registered seat first - it determines the language of any proceedings - and then whether the debt is genuinely undisputed, which determines whether IOS is open. Those two answers set the route and the cost before anything else is decided. Where legal proceedings become appropriate, SXB Global coordinates the instruction of appropriately authorised local counsel. Legal services are provided by the relevant independent legal professionals.