The first half of the year has not yet brought a deterioration in the payment morale of debtors, the results are "distorted" by government measures

Surprisingly, during the first half of 2020, the payment morale of indebted Czechs did not worsen. While the average amount paid by domestic debtors from outstanding receivables slightly decreased to 2600 CZK, there was an increase in the number of newly created debt repayment agreements (41%) and their adherence rate. This data stems from the semi-annual statistics of the collection agency EOS KSI. However, experts believe this improvement has two sides and is only temporary. The real impact of the coronavirus crisis will reflect in the statistics by the year's end.

The average amount Czech debtors pay from their incomes reached 2600 CZK in the first half of 2020, almost identical to the figure for the previous year's first half and roughly a fifth more than what debtors were repaying in 2018. Comparatively, the success rate of adhering to agreed-upon repayments also increased (from 35% to 38%). Particularly, there was a growth in the number of newly established repayment schedules with debtors, rising by a sixth (to 41%) compared to the first half of 2019.

According to Vladimír Vachel, the managing director of the collection agency EOS KSI, the results were significantly influenced by the atypical situation initiated by the pandemic of the coronavirus and the associated government measures. "Due to the possibility of deferring repayments, portfolios were cleansed of a large number of debtors, and at the same time, people who were potentially in a better situation and had less trouble repaying debt entered into debt recovery. The closed borders and limited shopping opportunities also played a role; people generally had more money left. Another factor contributing to the positive numbers is likely the fact that a large part of the population in the Czech Republic received some form of government support (e.g., self-employed individuals), which they could use to settle their debts," explains Vachel. Experts from EOS KSI anticipate the first real impact of the coronavirus crisis on recovery by the end of the year, once the main regulatory instruments conclude.

The greatest problems with payment morale during the studied period were seen in the Moravian-Silesian and Ústí nad Labem regions, where the situation has persistently shown poorer figures. Debtors here struggled to adhere to agreed-upon arrangements (Moravian-Silesian 34.1%, Ústí nad Labem 34.8%) or negotiate new ones (Moravian-Silesian 34.8%, Ústí nad Labem 32.6%), and on average, they repaid the lowest amount from their incomes.

EOS KSI Czech Republic, s.r.o., is part of a multinational network of 50 companies operating in more than 25 countries, specializing in financial services and all aspects of debt recovery. The EOS Group was founded in 1974 and is a reliable partner known for its highest level of services. Significant banks, insurance companies, leasing companies, consumer credit providers, telecommunications companies, wholesale, and retail companies entrust their finances to the company's care. The group's headquarters are in Hamburg, Germany. In addition to Germany, the EOS group is directly represented in Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Croatia, Ireland, Canada, Hungary, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Poland, Austria, Romania, Russia, Greece, Slovakia, Slovenia, the United States, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, and indirectly in another 150 countries worldwide.

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