Terms and conditions

Solid

  1. These General Terms and Conditions apply to/describe the method of submitting a debt recovery dossier on behalf of your company in respect of another company (“B2B”) via the mobile application or website (www.moderosolid.be) (“Modero Solid”) offered by NV Modero Judicial Officers Antwerp (“Modero”), Mechelsesteenweg 203, 2018 Antwerp (CBE 0474.215.974). By submitting your dossier application, you acknowledge that these General Terms and Conditions have been notified to you, and that you have taken cognisance of and accepted them.
  2. If your claim is undisputed, your dossier can proceed according to the “undisputed monetary debt” procedure as stipulated in the Potpourri I Act of 19 October 2015 and the Royal Decree of 22 June 2016 (see www.moderosolid.be for more information about this procedure). These General Terms and Conditions apply only to the recovery of your undisputed claim in accordance with the procedure provided for in the Potpourri Act of 19 October 2015. These General Terms and Conditions do not apply to other services and/or procedures provided by Modero such as the “traditional summons”, etc.
  3. By submitting the dossier, you grant Modero a mandate for full control and follow-up concerning among others possible enforcement (serving notice, injunction, seizure) of the resulting enforceable document (official report of non-dispute), always depending on the solvency of your debtor (see below). This may also mean that Modero must entrust your dossier to another judicial officer depending on the territorial jurisdiction of judicial officers.
  4. These General Terms and Conditions relate only to B2B debt recovery dossiers as defined in articles 1 and 2, and not to other services provided by Modero and/or its partners.

Correctness and completeness of the information provided

  1. You declare that all the information you provide to us regarding your claim and debtor is accurate, complete and up to date. You thereby also declare that your claim is payable and overdue, and that you have taken all the necessary steps to which you are legally or contractually bound.
  2. Should it become apparent during the handling of your dossier that you provided us with incomplete or incorrect information such that the debt recovery cannot proceed in accordance with the foreseen procedure, any costs associated with this will be for your expense. Should you obtain information after submitting your dossier that may be relevant to your dossier, you must immediately submit this to b2b@modero.be.
  3. If Modero and/or its partners have additional questions, you undertake to answer Modero and/or one of its partners immediately and, if necessary, to submit additional information or documents.

Amount of the claim

  1. As provided for in the Royal Decree of 22 June 2016, Modero will only apply the flat rate of 10% fixed compensation and the legally stipulated € 40 administration fee to your claim and charge this to your debtor, in addition to the outstanding and overdue invoice amount. If your invoicing terms and conditions foresee higher amounts, these cannot be claimed.

Choice of lawyer

  1. You may only call upon the services of a participating lawyer. When entering your dossier, you grant a mandate to Modero to appoint a participating lawyer in your name and on your behalf, which creates a direct contractual relationship between you and this lawyer. If you wish to appoint a participating lawyer yourself, Modero will provide a list of participating lawyers on first demand. Modero shall always ensure that your lawyer has all available relevant information within a reasonable period in order to represent your interests in the best possible way.
  2. The participating lawyer will verify that your claim is accurate, complete, up to date, payable and overdue, and that you have taken all possible steps to which you are bound by law and/or contract, possibly request Modero to start the “recovery of undisputed debts” procedure, and if necessary, represent you in Court.
  3. If after serving the order for payment it appears that your debtor has disputed the claim, payment of the lawyer’s fees and expenses cannot be insured, and he will bill his fees and expenses to you directly.

Insurance for uncontested debt claims

  1. By entering your dossier, you take out insurance that, after acceptance of your dossier, will make the insurer responsible for the payment of any non-recovered legal costs. Your dossier is only insured when, after a first mail confirming receipt of your dossier application, you have received a second mail accepting your application. Prior to the acceptance of your dossier application, the solvency of your customer will be screened according to the size of your claim. After acceptance of your dossier, in the case of complete recovery of your dossier, you will receive up to 100% of the invoice amount. Recovered increases and interest that exceed this amount constitute a fee for the benefit of Modero and your lawyer. In the case of non-recovery, all costs and fees of Modero and your lawyer will be paid by the insurer, except for the VAT recoverable by you, for which you will receive a final invoice. If during the recovery process it would appear that your claim has been disputed, the insurance will lapse.

    If your dossier does not meet the requirements for insurance, you will be notified by e-mail.  You will have to confirm within 4 workdays if you wish to pursue the debt claim.  After confirmation, in the case of complete recovery of your dossier, you will receive up to 110% of the invoice amount. Recovered increases and interest that exceed this amount constitute a fee for the benefit of Solid, the bailiff and your lawyer. In the case of non-recovery, all costs and fees of Solid and your lawyer will be billed to you.

Screening for solvency and acceptance

  1. Before and throughout the recovery process Modero will always examine the solvency of your debtor. Should it appear that your debtor is insolvent or untraceable, and Modero decides not to initiate or not to continue the procedure, you will be notified by Modero of this and, if desired, provided with a tax certificate.
  2. If your debtor is involved in proceedings based on claims of multiple creditors (such as the Continuity of Enterprises Act judicial reorganisation procedure, liquidation or bankruptcy proceedings), Modero will provide you with all relevant information so that you can submit a declaration to the appropriate mandatary. If you wish, and subject to additional arrangements, Modero can make this declaration for you.
  3. The obligation of Modero to accept your dossier application within 4 hours is a best efforts obligation, and exceeding this deadline can never give rise to damages of any kind. Within the 4-hour deadline, Modero will examine the solvency of your debtor and your lawyer will check if your claim is (legally) eligible for undisputed claim proceedings.
    If you lodge your dossier application on a working day after 03:00pm, a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday, the 4-hour deadline will commence on the following working day at 08:00am.

Instalment plans, direct payments and direct disputes

  1. Unless expressly instructed not to do so, Modero will decide which payment facilities might be granted, based on the solvency of your debtor.
  2. Should you receive a payment directly from your debtor or the debtor submits a dispute to you directly, you must inform Modero of this fact immediately so that the correct amount can be claimed at all times and/or the procedure can be suspended or discontinued. Any unjustified or unnecessary costs that are incurred because Modero was not informed by you in time, must be paid by you.
  3. Payments accepted by Modero will assigned to the amounts due by your customer in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code (among others art. 1253-1256 Civil Code and art. 21 Mortgage Act).
  4. Unless instructed otherwise at the time your dossier is submitted, Modero will transfer the available funds into an account specified on your invoices at the time the dossier is completed and needs to be closed.

Disputes

  1. If your debtor still disputes the invoices, you must provide us with the documents needed to refute the objection by return mail to your lawyer and Modero. All disputes will be forwarded to the address specified at the time the dossier is submitted. If Modero has not received an answer within 30 days, Modero will halt processing of the dossier. The costs associated with this will be invoiced.

Costs and fees of Modero

  1. In all cases, Modero will apply the rates as defined in the Royal Decree of 30 November 1976. Modero also reserves the right to request additional fee payments before taking further recovery steps in the procedure. Modero also reserves the right to refuse new dossier applications if unpaid costs from previous dossiers remain.
  2. The amounts invoiced by Modero are without discount and payable by bank transfer to bank account number 320-0139504-88, IBAN BE56320013950488 BIC BBRUBEBB within 30 calendar days after the invoice date. Invoices will be drawn up in the name of, and sent to, the company that gave the order for recovery. They will be sent to its registered office.
  3. Any dispute regarding an invoice sent by Modero must be submitted by registered letter within 10 days of receipt to the address of the registered office of Modero: Mechelsesteenweg 203, 2018 Antwerp. No dispute can be accepted after the expiry of this period and the invoice will be deemed accepted by the Client.
  4. In the case of full or partial non-payment by the due date, the invoice amount will be legally increased, without notice of default, by late payment interest of 12% per year, starting from the due date of the invoice up to the day of full payment of the invoice amount. Moreover, the outstanding balance will be increased by a flat rate of 10% of the outstanding balance, with a minimum of EUR 50, even if a repayment period is granted. This amount excludes the possible deferred collection, court and/or implementation costs in the context of judicial recovery proceedings. Your General Terms and Conditions are not applicable to our legal relationship. Costs incurred by Modero or one of its partners as a result of incorrect information provided by you, must be paid by you.
  5. Modero may amend these General Terms and Conditions at any time by publishing a new version on its website. You agree that all recovery dossiers submitted after publication of the new version of the General Terms and Conditions are governed by these new General Terms and Conditions.
  6. No deviations to these General Terms and Conditions are allowed unless Modero at your request has concluded a separate written agreement describing the deviations.
  7. In the case of dispute concerning the present invoice terms and conditions, Belgian law applies and courts of Antwerp have exclusive jurisdiction.