Voluntary settlement (frivilligt forlig)
Also known as settlement, out-of-court settlement, acknowledgement of debt with an enforcement clause, forlig, udenretligt forlig, skylderklæring med fuldbyrdelsesklausul
A voluntary settlement is a written agreement on the debt that can be enforced in the bailiff's court without a judgment, if it is worded correctly.
In practice
The voluntary settlement is the most underrated document in the whole of debt collection. If the debtor acknowledges the debt in writing, and the agreement contains an express provision that it may serve as the basis for enforcement, then it is an enforceable instrument. You can go straight to the bailiff’s court if the agreement is broken — no judgment, no payment order, no court case.
That is the difference between an instalment plan that is a promise and an instalment plan that is leverage. They cost the same to enter into. Only one of them has teeth.
That is why the right response, when a debtor calls and wants to agree instalments, is almost always: yes — in writing, in a voluntary settlement.
Where it commonly goes wrong
- The enforcement clause is missing. Without the express provision that the agreement can be enforced, the settlement is just an agreement, and you have to go all the way through the courts anyway.
- The agreement is made by email without a signature. It has to be capable of being produced in the bailiff’s court. A loose email thread is not a settlement.
- Instalments are agreed that the debtor can never keep. A settlement that breaks down in month two has cost you time. Agree amounts that match a realistic ability to pay.