Does anybody ever pay their bills on time? I normally wait at least 4 weeks before coughing up, perhaps 6-8 weeks if I forget.

What happened to 30 days nett?

I have just received a reminder for my rent for June, hey I paid it in June, what's the problem, no where in the contract does it say to pay on the 1st of a month.

Coming from the UK, remember the red letters, no one pays until you get a red letter. Old habits die hard, but why should they get paid interest on my money.

Do the Swiss really pay on time?

Yes, I guess they do. My corner grocery shop in the mountain village allows customers to run a tab and I asked the owner last year how often the tabs were left unsettled at the month end. About 10% was the reply - and they are all English!

I never used to pay bills on time. Then I ended up in a vicious cycle, and ended up paying CableCom CHF 1.200.- too much. When I called, they said I didnt have to pay them for 12 or 14 months. Then 13 or 15 months later I forgot to pay the bill, and the internet connection was closed 6 months later, CableCom forgot to kredit my account, and closed my internet connection.

So, the moral of the story is, always pay your bills on time - or CableCom will cut your internet connection

I pay all my bills when they're due, unless I forget or whatever. I'm extra sure to pay bills on items ordered as quickly as possible. I'm amazed and pleased that I can order relatively expensive things over the phone or via internet without using a credit card, and that the item arrives with the bill. I think it's really nice that people trust others that much.

The phone bill, meh, not so much. I do pay it on time though barring unforseen circumstances.

I know in the US I'd be getting a phone call or a knock if my rent was still not paid on the 5th of the month or so, it's actually normal to be weeks late on rent in the UK?

I guess this would potentially bring up another topic, but perhaps we are the fortunate ones that can afford to pay their bills on time.

Last I heard (in early March this), 11% of the population in Switzerland are in arrears with their health insurance, simply because they can't afford to pay - perhaps these are the working poor of CH.

Also from the same source ( Swiss French radio), over the past 5 years there has been a continual increase of "of late payers (not necessarily Swiss mind you). sorry no access to a website to back this up...

i dont get the point being late with paying bills?
when it comes, its gonna be paid instantly. regular services
like fon, inet, insurances go via standing order.

i mean, in reverse, would you like to be paid your wage
later then the 1st of the month?

and on the other hand: i dont want to be stressed with all this betreibungs-shite. and basically i follow the rule: what i cant afford...i dont buy.

Thanks for the mails and comments. Looks like I am in the minority, I never get final demands, but I never pay on time either. It is not that I haven't got the cash, but I prefer it in my bank than somebody elses. I guess we are trying to back on a even keel after moving here at our own cost and cash flow is sometimes a bit tight. I am self employed and can get paid any time between the 15th and the 30th of a month and that is the cheque for that months rent. With the house in the UK I don't get the rent cheque until the end of the month, but the tenants have paid sometime that month, so the agent gains, not me. Normally I pay the rent in the third week!!

Standing orders for everything, including credit cards, it makes things easier. And an overdraft...

ah, ok. sorry, dindnt know about you being self employed. thats a different issue, but id pay bills as quick as possible though.

Standing orders take care of rent and a few other things, all other bills get collected and paid at the end of each month (yes a few may be 30 days old while some may be a day or two) unless it is something large and specific like tax.

Why ? Does the service provider drop everything when you have a problem ? I think not. Try refusing to pay until you get a satisfactory resolution or for the period of outage. It concentrates their mind somewhat even though the amounts of money may be small. More difficult to do if you pay up date , or even worse in advance.

dave

If you are late with tax, you will be charged interest at something like 5% per year. Any canny investor should be able to achieve a better return with that money, if you keep on top of it.

dave

it's usually my parents who pay but i think they pay in time or when it's due.

i never had one with any service or provider. its just my way of treating things like that. i dont feel comfy wit bills still running and im in control with my financial status. i mean...you have to pay one day or the other.
so i keep it that way.

tax payments seem to be charged at less than 5% (I don't pay much interest and I just paid 2005 off).

I used to pay rent exactly on the first business day of the month.

Credit cards get paid on the 23rd of the month to avoid interest.

Everything else gets paid on the last day of the month - and I do my bills run around the 20th. Anything that comes after that is paid in the next cycle and I don't get any warnings (I assume I'm pretty standard in how I do it).

I'm not sure how the whole credit rating scheme works here, but paying your bills late on a regular basis in the US is a sure-fire way to get a bad credit rating and will lead to either being denied credit cards or only getting high-rate cards (not an issue if you pay them off every month). More importantly, it will impact your ability to get a mortgage or one with the lowest possible interest rate. Of course, if you never plan on getting a mortgage here or if the banks never look at how you pay your bills, it may not impact you in CH.

Actually I believe most rental contracts require you to pay a month in advance.

thats right, i have same experience. and...for example swisscom state on the bills, that you can pay the bill for may (received end of may) beginning of july. pretty fair.

Agreed. It's less than 5%, more like 2% from my figures - maybe it varies by kanton. At least the tax peeps here are reasonable, almost nice .

I wish they did... Then we wouldn't have to insist on advance payment for our goods. However, it's not a Swiss thing - there are late/non-payers all over...