Payment reminder and dunning letter to a business customer (Germany)
Published byDocMuse
This document is in German
The PDF you download is in German — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
A letter to another business that has not paid an invoice — as a friendly payment reminder or as the final demand before a court payment order. It names the invoice, the due date and the day default began (at the latest 30 days after the due date and receipt, § 286(3) of the German Civil Code, BGB), calculates default interest at nine points above the base rate, claims the €40 flat fee (§ 288(2) and (5) BGB) and sets a deadline. Laid out as a German business letter (DIN 5008), in German. Consumers as debtors have a separate demand letter.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Creditor
- Creditor's address
- Debtor
- Debtor's postal address (street and number, postcode and town)
- City
- Date
- Invoice number
- Date of the invoice
- Invoice amount
- Due date
- Overdue since
- Base rate in % (as published by the Bundesbank)
- Late-payment interest to date
- Total due
- Payment deadline
- IBAN
- Kind of letter: payment reminder or final demand
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- How is default interest calculated against a business debtor in Germany?
- Amount outstanding × (base rate + 9) % × days in default ÷ 365 (§ 288(2) BGB). The base rate has been 1.52 % since 1 July 2026, so default interest is 10.52 % a year; the Bundesbank announces it afresh for 1 January and 1 July — enter the rate that applies to the period of default. Example: €5,000 for 45 days gives €5,000 × 10.52 % × 45 ÷ 365 = €64.85. On top comes the €40 flat fee per invoice (§ 288(5) BGB).
- Is a reminder needed at all before a German business customer is in default?
- Not for default: a business debtor is in default without any reminder at the latest 30 days after the due date and receipt of the invoice (§ 286(3) BGB), and the day after an agreed payment date (§ 286(2) no. 1 BGB). Interest and the flat fee are then owed anyway. The letter serves to put a figure on the claim, set a final deadline and show, before a court payment order, that you mean it. No particular form is required.
- How can I make sure a dunning letter reaches a German business customer?
- A reminder takes effect only when it is received (§ 130 BGB). E-mail or post will do, but in a dispute you must prove receipt. The tracking status of a registered letter dropped in the letterbox (Einwurf-Einschreiben) is not enough on its own (Federal Labour Court, 2 AZR 68/24, 30 January 2025). A messenger who reads the letter first and witnesses its delivery, or a reply from the customer confirming receipt, is safer. Keep a dated copy.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
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