Is the claim about to become time-barred?
A time-barred claim is lost. Not weakened, not harder to recover — lost. And there is no warning: the claim is there, and one day it is gone. The main rule is three years from the due date. If you hold a judgment, a court settlement or a promissory note, the period is ten.
How it is calculated
- 01 The period runs from the due date — not from the invoice date. They are not the same thing.
- 02 The main rule is three years. If the claim rests on a judgment, a court settlement or a promissory note, the period is ten years.
- 03 The period can be interrupted, and a new period then starts from scratch. That happens when the debtor acknowledges the debt in writing, or when you take a legal step — for example filing a payment order.
- 04 A reminder does NOT interrupt limitation. You can chase for three years and still lose the claim.
What is often got wrong
They do not. It takes the debtor’s acknowledgement or a legal step. It is the single mistake that costs Danish creditors the most money — precisely because nobody notices it.
It is counted from the due date. On an invoice with 30 days’ payment terms that is a month’s difference — and a month can be the whole difference.
If you have a portfolio of claims aged 2½ years, the clock is against you. A voluntary settlement or a promissory note resets it — and at the same time turns the claim into an enforceable instrument.
Frequently asked questions
When does an ordinary invoice claim become time-barred?
After three years, counted from the due date. If the period has been interrupted along the way — by acknowledgement or a legal step — a new three-year period runs from the interruption.
Does a reminder interrupt limitation?
No. It is the most widespread and most expensive misconception in debt collection. Only the debtor’s acknowledgement of the debt or a legal step interrupts the period.
What do I do with a claim that is about to become time-barred?
Get the period interrupted. The cheapest route is a written acknowledgement from the debtor — a promissory note or a voluntary settlement. That also gives you a ten-year period and an enforceable instrument.
- Limitation period (forældelsesfrist) The limitation period is the time you have to pursue the claim — as a general rule 3 years, after which the claim is lost.
- Interruption of limitation (afbrydelse af forældelse) Interrupting the limitation period resets the clock — it happens when the debtor acknowledges the debt, or when legal steps are taken.
- Promissory note (gældsbrev) A promissory note is a written, unilateral acknowledgement of a debt — and it can be an enforceable instrument if it is worded correctly.
- Judgment (dom) A judgment is the court's decision in the case — and an enforceable instrument that can be enforced in the bailiff's court.
The figure is one thing. The money is another.
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