What claims is the commercial agent entitled to assert in Austria?
Pursuant to Sec. 24 (1) Austrian Commercial Agency Act (HVertrG), once the contractual relationship has been terminated a reasonable claim to compensation shall be due to the commercial agent, if and to the extent that
- he or she provides the trader with new customers, or has considerably extended any existing business relations;
- it is to be expected that the trader or its legal successor can draw considerable benefits from these business relations, even once the contractual relationship has been dissolved; and
- taking into consideration all the circumstances of the case, in particular the commission payments being made to the commercial agent based on transactions with the customers concerned lapsing, the payment of a settlement fee is in line with the principle of fairness.
The claim to compensation shall, in the absence of any more favourable agreement for the commercial agent, amount to a maximum of one year’s remuneration, which will be calculated from the average of the last five years.