What is the difference between collection and enforcement and the District Court?

Collection is carried out by a collection company, such as OK Perintä. The task of a collection company is to collect overdue debts on behalf of a business or private individual (creditor). Recovery measures include letters, text message reminders, phone calls and email messages to remind you of overdue invoices.

OK Perintä’s objective is to agree on the repayment of the debt with the customer and to jointly find the best solutions for the customer to manage their debt. If you have anything to ask about the handing of debt issues, please feel free to contact our Customer Service team.

The District Court is part of the Judicial Administration. If a debt is not paid during the collection process, the collection company may refer it to the District Court for consideration. The District Court considers the case and makes a decision on who should pay the debt. These decisions in debt cases are called debt judgments. A debt judgment also results in a payment default entry in the credit information of the debtor.

The National Enforcement Authority Finland may recover an unpaid debt directly from a salary or pension, or sell property to cover the debt. Enforcement requires that the debt is subject to a judgment given in the District Court establishing liability to pay. In some cases, an overdue debt can be transferred directly to enforcement for collection without a judgment given by the District Court (e.g. taxes, day care fees, and other statutory municipal payments).