Late payment interest on Italian customers: a UK supplier’s guide

In short: Italian law on commercial payments (Legislative Decree 231/2002) says late-payment interest starts the day after the due date with no reminder needed, and gives the creditor a fixed €40 on top. Standard payment terms are 30 days, and terms above 60 days must be expressly agreed. Which regime applies to your invoice depends first on the law your contract chooses.

Part of the guide Checking an Italian company: a guide for UK businesses after Brexit. All guides: Guides.

Which law governs your invoice?

Start with the contract. If it names English law, the UK Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 is the natural starting point. Section 12 of that Act deals with conflict of laws: it does not apply where the parties chose UK law but the contract has no significant connection with the UK and would otherwise be governed by foreign law, and it does apply where they chose foreign law but the contract is otherwise connected only with a part of the UK (legislation.gov.uk: section 12). If the contract is governed by Italian law, or you are enforcing in Italy, the Italian rules below matter.

The UK side in one paragraph

The 1998 Act implies a term that a qualifying debt carries simple statutory interest. Section 4 starts the interest on the day after the “relevant day”: the agreed payment day or, where none is agreed, the last day of a 30-day period counted from performance or notice of the amount (legislation.gov.uk: section 4). Check the Act itself for the rate and the compensation sums, which this guide does not state.

The Italian rules (D.Lgs. 231/2002)

Key rules in the Italian decree on late payment in commercial transactions

Point	What the text says
Scope	“Transazioni commerciali” are contracts between businesses, or between businesses and public bodies, mainly for the delivery of goods or the supply of services against a price (art. 2).
When interest starts	From the day after the payment deadline, “senza che sia necessaria la costituzione in mora”, meaning with no formal demand (art. 4(1)).
Standard payment period	30 days from the debtor’s receipt of the invoice or an equivalent payment request, with alternative start points for goods and services where the invoice date is uncertain (art. 4(2)).
Longer terms	Businesses may agree a longer term. Terms above 60 days must be expressly agreed, and must not be grossly unfair to the creditor (art. 4(3)).
Rate	Simple daily interest at the ECB’s latest main refinancing rate plus eight percentage points (art. 2(1)(e)–(f)); the reference rate is fixed for each half of the year (art. 5).
Recovery costs	A fixed €40 without any formal demand, plus proof of greater damage, which can include debt-recovery assistance costs (art. 6).
Unfair clauses	Clauses on payment term, default interest or recovery costs are void if grossly unfair to the creditor. A clause excluding default interest is always grossly unfair, and one excluding recovery costs is presumed so (art. 7).

The decree applies to commercial transactions concluded from 1 January 2013, and the debtor escapes interest only by proving that the delay came from an impossibility of performance not attributable to them (art. 3).

Before you chase an Italian customer

• Confirm that the invoice counterparty is the company you traded with: name, registered office and VAT number against the Italian register.
• Look for protests and insolvency signals first. If the customer is already in an Italian insolvency procedure, interest and recovery are handled in that procedure (see Italian insolvency for UK creditors).
• For court action and enforcement after Brexit, read Recovering a debt from an Italian debtor after Brexit and take advice from an Italian lawyer.

Where Veryfy fits

The Negatività e procedure concorsuali check (€5.90) reports protests and insolvency proceedings only, each with source and date, so you know quickly whether chasing the invoice is realistic. Verifica (€19) reads Italian official sources and returns one company report: beneficial owner, shareholders and directors, protests and insolvency signals, and an estimated operating credit line.

Every company product comes with a free Check anti-truffa (anti-scam check): it looks at the VAT number in the EU VIES register, free webmail or disposable email, domain age, domains flagged for malware or phishing, SPF and DMARC protection, the VAT number shown on the website, data breaches affecting the site, and whether the IBAN is correctly written and from a country consistent with the company.

The service and the report are in Italian, and they come from Italian official sources: company names, offices and procedures keep their original Italian wording. Veryfy does not offer a translated report.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to send a reminder before Italian interest starts?

No. Article 4(1) of the decree says default interest runs from the day after the deadline without any formal demand. A reminder is still sensible commercially and for your evidence.

How much can I claim for recovery costs?

Article 6 gives the creditor a fixed €40 without any formal demand, and allows proof of greater damage, which can include debt-recovery assistance costs.

Can my Italian customer insist on 90-day terms?

Businesses may agree longer terms, but terms above 60 days must be expressly agreed and must not be grossly unfair to the creditor. Where the creditor is a small or medium-sized business, the decree presumes a term above 60 days grossly unfair, unless all the parties are small or medium-sized businesses (art. 7(4-bis)).

Sources

Official sources opened and read on 2026-10-24.

• Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, section 12 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, section 4 (legislation.gov.uk)
• D.Lgs. 231/2002, art. 4: payment terms (Normattiva)
• D.Lgs. 231/2002, art. 2: definitions (Normattiva)
• D.Lgs. 231/2002, art. 6: recovery costs (Normattiva)
• D.Lgs. 231/2002, art. 7: void clauses (Normattiva)

General information, not legal advice. Sources verified on 2026-10-24.