The client asks for payment at 90 days: how to protect yourself

In short: a 90-day payment term between businesses is not prohibited by Italian law, but it is not unconditionally valid either. D.Lgs. 231/2002 (implementing the EU rules on late payment in commercial transactions) allows terms longer than 60 days only if expressly agreed and not "grossly unfair" to the party bearing them. Accepting it without checking the client nonetheless increases your exposure for three full months, regardless of the legal validity of the clause.

What the law says about terms longer than 60 days

The default payment term, in the absence of a written agreement, is 30 days. The parties may expressly agree a longer term, even 90 days or more, but art. 7 of D.Lgs. 231/2002 declares void payment term clauses that are grossly unfair to the creditor, that is, where the agreement, without objective justification, has as its main purpose to provide the debtor with additional liquidity at the expense of the supplier. If a court considers a 90-day term grossly unfair in a specific case, the practical effect is not a term "at will": payment becomes due again within the statutory term of 30 days.

What, in practice, makes a term "grossly unfair"

There is no automatic numerical threshold above which a term becomes void: the assessment is discretionary, case by case, and considers the commercial practice of the sector, the nature of the supply and the overall balance of the relationship between the parties. A 90-day term unilaterally imposed on a small supplier by a client in a position of contractual strength, with no objective reason linked to the supply, is more likely to be considered unfair than a 90-day term agreed in a sector where it is widespread and justified practice (e.g. long retail sales cycles).

What happens in case of delay, even beyond the agreed term

For commercial transactions between businesses, D.Lgs. 231/2002 provides a stricter mechanism than the ordinary one under the Civil Code: default interest accrues automatically from the day after the due date, without the need for formal notice of default, and the creditor is entitled to a flat-rate reimbursement of 40 euros for collection costs, due automatically in addition to the interest. The applicable default rate is higher than the ordinary legal rate and is updated periodically on the basis of the ECB reference rate. Check it as up to date at the time you need it, rather than relying on a percentage read elsewhere months earlier.

Check the client before accepting, not just discuss the clause

Regardless of the legal validity of the term, accepting 90 days means remaining exposed for three months to that specific client. Before accepting, checking their financial strength, their payment behaviour towards other suppliers and any warning signs reduces the real risk. Legal protection against the nullity of an unfair clause comes afterwards, when the damage (unpaid invoices, time, any litigation) has already partly occurred.