Farmers must settle the balance shown on the monthly account statement from the Social Security Centre (Centre commun de la sécurité sociale - CCSS) within 10 days of the statement being issued.
Contributions that are not paid by the due date will incur default interest, starting from the 1st day of the 1st month following the due date. The interest rate on late payments is set at 0.6 % per whole calendar month; fractions of months are disregarded. After 4 unpaid monthly account statements, the CCSS initiates a forced recovery procedure.
Persons concerned
Farmers who have not paid their last 4 monthly account statements.
How to proceed
Request for payment
Should the farmer fail to pay 4 consecutive account statements, the CCSS sends them a request for payment by registered letter.
This request for payment invites the late payer to
- either pay the outstanding social security contributions within 2 weeks;
- or accept the payment schedule proposed by the CCSS.
Accepting the payment schedule
By signing the payment schedule attached to the request for payment, the farmer is accepting the proposed staggered payment of the debt.
They agree to pay, on a monthly basis:
- the usual contributions;
- any fines;
- the monthly down payment amount.
Enforcement orders (contraintes) and bailiffs
If a farmer does not accept or adhere to the payment schedule, the CCSS takes steps towards the forced recovery of the debts, by sending them an enforcement order (contrainte) by registered letter. A bailiff will then be tasked with enforcement.
Other recovery measures
Other recovery measures are possible, including:
- deduction of part of the debtor's salary, if they have become an employee in the meantime;
- offsetting and legal transfer, if the debtor is also owed money by a social security institution;
- sending the request for payment to a third party, (enabling the CCSS to recover the amounts due from financial institutions, notaries, state administrations, ministries or others).
End of proceedings
The recovery procedure ends:
- immediately, if the debt is settled within 2 weeks of the request for payment
or
- as soon as the unpaid balance falls below the total of the last 2 account statements.