Debt enforcement agencies record data: “People are no longer as willing to pay as they used to be”

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Bonus shock! Electricity price explosion! Rent increase! Will Mr. and Mrs. Schweizer get tired of paying with such headlines? In any case, the postal workers had their hands full with debt collection last year. In many places, more payment orders have ended up in the letterbox than ever before.

The situation is similar for most offices: compared to the previous year, collections will have increased by about ten percent in 2023. Many offices and cantons even register record numbers. For example in the cantons of Zug and Lucerne, in at least four offices in the canton of St. Gallen and in some offices in Zurich. In Glarus, seizures rose to a record high, and the number of payment orders rose in the cantons of Schaffhausen, Solothurn and Appenzell Innerrhoden.

Normalization after Corona

Bogdan Todic (43) of the board of the Conference of Collection and Bankruptcy Officers sees the high increase mainly as a normalization after Corona. “During the Corona years, enforcement figures collapsed. “Creditors, for example, have been more cautious,” says Todic. From March 19 to April 19, 2020, all debt collection operations were halted throughout Switzerland.

In many cantons, the numbers are back to comparable levels to before the pandemic. This is, for example, the case in the cantons of Vaud, Valais, Bern, Nidwalden and Fribourg.

Higher premiums

“Over the years, more and more things have generally been done,” says Dominik Angst firmly. He heads the collection and bankruptcy office in Schaffhausen. His office also sent significantly more direct debit mail in 2023 than in previous years.

If you ask around with the collection agencies, various reasons will be given for this. The fear indicates that tax offices and health insurers are the most zealous creditors. “Inflation certainly has an impact. Premiums increase year after year. Many households do not have enough money in their coffers for this.”

“Order today, pay tomorrow”

Changing consumer behavior also plays a role, says Cornelia Löhri (52), head of the debt collection agency in Zug. As an example, she mentions the motto ‘Order today and pay tomorrow’. “People are no longer as willing to pay as they used to be. “You feel less ashamed if a debt restructuring action ends up in the mail,” says Angst.

The responses to collection letters in particular result in more work in many places. «Customers are more demanding and bolder. The barrel is filling up faster,” says Roger Wiesendanger (52), head of the debt collection and bankruptcy office in Thurgau. Many offices are also increasingly confronted with government objections. In Schaffhausen, the police must intervene more and bring the objectors to the office, they fear.

Particularly high figures in Zug

Zug’s collection agency was particularly busy last year: the number of collection procedures increased by almost 30 percent compared to the previous year. This is mainly due to the high concentration of companies in the city of Zug, which increasingly fail to pay their bills and receivables, says Cornelia Löhri. But private individuals are also increasingly falling into debt.

There is no relief in sight: “There are already signs of a renewed increase in 2024,” predicts Löhri.

Source:Blick