Long processing times for debt recovery

It is of great importance to society that those entitled to payment for goods or services can be confident that they will receive payment. It is also important that everyone who is liable to pay taxes and charges to the public sector actually does so.

The Swedish National Audit Office’s audit shows that the Swedish Enforcement Authority’s debt recovery activities are generally effective, largely due to a high proportion of automated processes. Despite this, many cases remain pending for long periods with no active processing.

The main reason is that manual processing is required in certain situations. In cases involving payment orders, this applies primarily to personal service of documents and the supplementation of applications. Almost half of all payment orders are submitted for personal service. It often takes several months before a process server initiates an attempt to serve the document. Over half of all applications submitted via the Swedish Enforcement Authority’s online service need to be supplemented.

In enforcement cases, people who have had a debt registered for the first time with the Swedish Enforcement Authority are a priority group. Despite this, in many cases it takes several months before an investigation is launched to determine whether the person has any assets that can be seized.

“Even though many of the manual steps take only a few minutes to complete, they hold up the flow of the processes and can lead to processing times being extended by weeks or months. This can have serious consequences for those with a valid claim,” says Deputy Auditor General Claudia Gardberg Morner.

The Swedish National Audit Office considers that a better designed online service is needed for applications for payment orders – one that reduces the need for manual adjustments. It is also important that the online service is designed with a view to reducing the number of applications in which the parties disagree on the claim, that is, disputed claims.

The Swedish National Audit Office further notes that a high proportion of the Swedish Enforcement Authority’s cases contain legal shortcomings, which in some cases can have significant consequences for the parties to the case. This applies, in particular, to cases involving business debt recovery from companies, where the Swedish Enforcement Authority risks overlooking assets that could have been seized.

“Certain types of debt recovery are complex and require specialist expertise that not all staff at the Swedish Enforcement Authority possess. However, we also have indications that errors occur due to haste in the processing of cases,” says Anna Brink, project leader for the audit.