Situation: €520,000 outstanding. A Dutch chemical intermediates company supplied speciality coatings to an Italian manufacturer based in the Veneto region. The Italian company had a solid reputation, €35 million in annual revenue, and a history of paying invoices 30-45 days beyond terms — annoying but manageable. Then two invoices totalling €520,000 stopped moving entirely.

The Dutch company's credit manager followed up for four months. The Italian debtor's responses followed a pattern that anyone who has collected in Italy will recognise: expressions of goodwill, references to temporary cash flow constraints, promises of partial payment "next month," and occasional silence. The Italian debtor was not hostile. They were simply operating within the Italian commercial payment culture, which treats invoice payment deadlines as the beginning of a negotiation rather than the end of one.

What we deployed

The decreto ingiuntivo. Italy's payment order procedure (Articles 633-656 of the Code of Civil Procedure) is, on paper, one of the most creditor-friendly instruments in Europe. The creditor files a ricorso per decreto ingiuntivo with the Tribunale in the debtor's judicial district. The judge reviews the documentary evidence without a hearing and issues the decreto ingiuntivo within 30-45 days. The debtor has 40 days to file an opposizione (opposition).

Here is what makes the Italian system distinctive: under Article 642 of the CPC, if the creditor's claim is based on certain types of evidence (bills of exchange, authenticated documents, or — critically — documents that the debtor has not contested in prior correspondence), the judge can grant provvisoria esecuzione (provisional enforceability). This means the creditor can begin enforcement before the debtor's 40-day opposition period expires.

We filed the ricorso at the Tribunale di Vicenza and specifically requested provvisoria esecuzione under Article 642, presenting the debtor's own email correspondence acknowledging the debt and the delivery notes signed by the debtor's warehouse manager. The judge granted provisional enforceability.

The pignoramento presso terzi. With the provisionally enforceable decreto ingiuntivo in hand, we immediately instructed our ufficiale giudiziario (court bailiff) to execute a pignoramento presso terzi (third-party attachment) under Articles 543-554 of the CPC. This instrument attaches funds owed to the debtor by the debtor's own customers — effectively intercepting the debtor's incoming receivables before they reach the debtor's bank accounts.

We identified three of the debtor's largest customers through Italian Chamber of Commerce filings and commercial intelligence. The pignoramento was served on all three simultaneously. The effect was immediate: the debtor's incoming cash flow was partially diverted to satisfy our client's claim.

The debtor's response

The debtor filed an opposizione on day 38 — within the 40-day window but after the pignoramento had already been executed. The opposition alleged a quality dispute on one shipment valued at approximately €45,000. Our counsel filed a detailed response demonstrating that the debtor had accepted delivery without reservation and had used the materials in production.

The debtor's avvocato contacted our Milan office to discuss settlement two weeks after the opposizione was filed. The debtor's negotiating position had been fundamentally weakened by the pignoramento presso terzi: their customers were now aware of the enforcement action, creating reputational pressure that exceeded the financial pressure of the debt itself.

Settlement: €520,000 paid in full, plus statutory interest under Legislative Decree 231/2002. The opposizione was withdrawn and the pignoramento released. Timeline: 52 days from mandate to settlement agreement, 67 days to final payment.

The Italy intelligence note

Italy's limitation period for commercial claims is ten years (Article 2946 of the Civil Code) — the longest in the EU. The decreto ingiuntivo with provvisoria esecuzione is the most powerful combination in Italian commercial enforcement, but it requires specific documentary evidence to obtain provisional enforceability. The pignoramento presso terzi is Italy's most underused enforcement tool among international creditors — it targets the debtor's revenue stream rather than their bank balance, which makes it effective even against debtors who maintain low account balances.

If you're holding a receivable against an Italian entity and the debtor is using delay as a strategy, the Italian enforcement toolkit is more powerful than most creditors realise. Brief our Milan team for an Italian enforcement assessment.