Persons concerned
Self-employed persons who have accumulated a debt with the Social Security Centre (Centre commun de la sécurité sociale - CCSS).
How to proceed
Summons to pay
Self-employed persons who are late in payment to the equivalent of 4 account statements and did not request a payment schedule will receive a summons to pay by registered letter.
This summons requires the late payer to
- either pay all social security contributions due within 2 weeks;
- or respect the payment schedule proposed by the CCSS.
Payment schedule
Each month the late payer must pay
- the usual monthly contributions;
- the monthly down payment amount settled in the schedule.
Constraints and bailiffs
If the late payer does not agree to the payment schedule, the CCSS proceeds to enforced recovery of the debts, by means of a constraint sent to the debtor by registered letter. This constraint is forwarded to a bailiff for enforcement.
No further payment schedules are granted once a constraint has been sent. The amount required must then be paid in full.
Filing a bankruptcy petition
If the bailiff reports that there is nothing to seize from the debtor, the CCSS refers the case to a lawyer for them to file a bankruptcy petition.
Where applicable, the CCSS requests that the Ministry of the Economy (Ministère de l'Économie) revokes all trading permits issued in the name of the self-employed person.
Other recovery measures
Other recovery measures are possible:
- wage garnishment of part of the self-employed person's salary, if they have become an employee in the meantime;
- compensation and legal transfer (when the self-employed person is owed a claim on a social security institution);
- sending the summons to pay to a third party, enabling the CCSS to recover the amounts due from financial institutions, notaries, state administrations, ministries or others;
- the refusal to issue a certificate of non-liability required for a public tender, even after a payment schedule to stagger the debt has been accepted.
End of proceedings
The recovery proceedings end
- when the debt is settled
or
- as soon as the arrears are less than the last 2 account statements.