Late-payment interest can be claimed by any professional in the context of:

• commercial transactions, i.e. the provision of goods or services against payment between businesses or between a business and the public authorities;
• transactions between a professional and a consumer.

Transactions between professionals / Transactions with a public authority

The creditor is entitled to claim late-payment interest if:

• they have fulfilled their contractual and legal obligations; and
  
• they have not received the amount due on the due date, unless the debtor is not responsible for the delay.

Transactions with a consumer

The creditor is entitled to claim late-payment interest if:

• the invoice was issued within a month of receipt of the goods by the client, of completion of the works or provision of services; and
  
• the invoice clearly states that the legal rate of late-payment interest will be applied where necessary.

Transactions between professionals

Within the framework of transactions between professionals, the creditor can claim late payment interest:

• as from the day following the payment due date or the end of the payment deadline agreed upon by contract;
• or failing this, 30 days after:
  • the date of receipt of the invoice (or equivalent request for payment);
  • the date of receipt of the goods or the services if the date on the invoice (or on an equivalent request for payment) is not clearly stated or if the debtor has received the invoice (or equivalent request for payment) before the goods or services ordered;
  • the date of acceptance or verification of the goods/services if such a process has been agreed upon by contract or by law and the debtor has received the invoice before or on the date of acceptance/verification.
    The duration of the acceptance/verification procedure may not exceed 30 days (unless contractual provisions stipulate otherwise and provided the provisions are not grossly unfair).

Commercial transactions with a public authority

In the framework of commercial transactions where the debtor is a public authority, the creditor can request late payment interests 30 days after:

• the date of receipt of the invoice (or equivalent request for payment);
• the date of receipt of the goods or the services if the date on the invoice (or on an equivalent request for payment) is not clearly stated or in the event the debtor has received the invoice (or equivalent request for payment) before the goods or services ordered;
• the date of acceptance or verification of the goods/services if such a process has been agreed upon by contract or by law and the debtor has received the invoice before or on the date of acceptance/verification.
  The duration of the acceptance/verification procedure may not exceed 30 days after the date of receipt of the goods or services (unless contractual provisions stipulate otherwise and provided the provisions are not grossly unfair).

Transactions with a consumer

In the context of transactions with a consumer, late payment interest starts to accrue as from the third month following the date of receipt of the goods, completion of the works or provision of services.

Transactions between professionals / with a public authority

In the framework of commercial transactions, the debtor does not have to undertake any procedures (sending of reminders, formal demand) but can claim late payment interest right away.

The legal late-payment interest rate applicable to commercial transactions is published at the beginning of each half-year in the Mémorial B. It is equal to the European Central Bank's key interest rate increased by 8 percentage points.

Professionals (in B2B transactions) may decide to fix a higher or lower contractual interest rate than the legal rate.

The creditor can request a flat fee of EUR 40 to compensate for recovery costs without the necessity of a reminder.

He can also claim a reasonable indemnity to cover for all other costs which exceed this amount (namely to cover the expenses for a lawyer or a debt-collection company).

Calculation method for transactions between professionals / with a public authority

The creditor must calculate the legal interest as follows:

Calculation of late payment interest

(Amount due x legal interest rate x number of days overdue) / (365 days x 100) = amount of late payment interest

The 'amount due' which must be taken into consideration for the calculation is the principal amount which should have been paid within the contractual or legal deadline, including all applicable taxes, rights, royalties or costs indicated on the invoice or equivalent request for payment.

Transactions with a consumer

The applicable legal interest rate for transactions with a consumer is fixed annually by Grand-Ducal regulation published in the Memorial A.

Unlike transactions between professionals, it is in this case not possible to contractually agree on an interest rate which is different from the one set annually by Grand-ducal regulation.

When recovering a receivable debt through legal action, the creditor may obtain the reimbursement of debt recovery costs, in addition to late-payment interest.

Calculation method for transactions with a consumer

The creditor must calculate the legal interest as follows:

Calculation of late payment interest

(Amount due x legal interest rate x number of days overdue) / (365 days x 100) = amount of late payment interest

The 'amount due' which must be taken into consideration for the calculation is the principal amount which should have been paid within the contractual or legal deadline, including all applicable taxes, rights, royalties or costs indicated on the invoice or equivalent request for payment.

Procedures

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