Missed the objection deadline: the remedies that remain
Updated on 5 August 2026
In brief
The deadline to object to a payment order is ten days from service (Art. 74 SchKG). Once it passes, three routes remain depending on the case: restoration of the deadline if you were prevented through no fault of your own from acting in time (Art. 33 para. 4 SchKG); a complaint to the supervisory authority if service was defective (Art. 17 SchKG), in which case the deadline never validly ran; and an action for annulment or declaratory relief where the debt is not owed or has been paid (Art. 85a SchKG). Acting fast is decisive: most of these routes carry short deadlines of their own.
A payment order that arrives during a holiday, service at a former address, or simply ten days slipping by: the objection deadline is one of the shortest in Swiss law, and missing it feels irreversible. It is not always.
Restoration of the deadline
Art. 33 para. 4 SchKG allows restoration of a deadline for anyone prevented from meeting it through no fault of their own. The request goes to the competent authority within ten days of the impediment ending, and the omitted act — here the objection — must be performed within that same period. The accepted grounds are narrow: hospitalisation, accident, sudden incapacity. A planned holiday absence or simple negligence generally will not do. Give reasons and enclose the evidence establishing the impediment.
Where service was defective
The deadline only runs from valid service. If the payment order was handed to someone not entitled to receive it, sent to an address you had left, or never reached you at all, the starting point is open to challenge. The route is then a complaint to the supervisory authority (Art. 17 SchKG), filed within ten days of your actually learning of the act. This is often the strongest angle where you discover a proceeding by consulting your extract rather than by receiving a letter.
Challenging the debt itself
A missed objection does not condemn you to pay a debt that does not exist. Art. 85a SchKG allows the debtor to sue for annulment or suspension of the proceeding on proving that the debt does not exist or has been extinguished — because it was paid, or is time-barred. It is court action, heavier than an objection, but it remains available after the deadline expires. In cases of identity theft or mistaken identity, this is also the avenue to explore.
And if the proceeding is well-founded?
Where the debt is genuine and the deadline gone, energy is better spent limiting the consequences. Paying quickly closes the proceeding and avoids garnishment; but remember that payment does not erase the entry. Negotiate the withdrawal at the moment you pay (Art. 8a para. 3 let. c SchKG): that is when your position is strongest. Failing that, the entry stops being disclosed to third parties five years after closure (Art. 8a para. 4 SchKG).
I was on holiday — is that grounds for restoration?
Rarely. Restoration presupposes a non-culpable impediment (Art. 33 para. 4 SchKG); a planned absence without arranging for post is generally not accepted. Hospitalisation or an accident, by contrast, are.
I never received the payment order — what can I do?
File a complaint with the supervisory authority (Art. 17 SchKG) within ten days of learning about it: if service was defective, the objection deadline never validly ran.
Can I still contest a debt I do not owe?
Yes. The action under Art. 85a SchKG allows the proceeding to be annulled or suspended if you prove the debt does not exist or has been extinguished, even after the objection deadline has expired.