Formal demand letter (påkravsskrivelse)
Also known as formal demand, final demand, pre-collection notice, påkrav, påkravsbrev, inkassopåkrav
A formal demand letter is the letter that warns the debtor that the case will be passed to debt collection if payment is not made within 10 days.
In practice
The formal demand is not merely the last reminder. It is a statutory condition for being allowed to start debt collection at all, and it is the letter that makes it possible to charge the collection costs to the debtor later on.
The letter must give a deadline of at least 10 days, and it must state clearly that failure to pay within the deadline means the case will be passed to debt collection, and that this will cost the debtor further expenses. The deadline runs from the date of the letter.
In practice most creditors combine the formal demand with the third reminder. That is permitted — the same letter can serve both functions, provided the content is in order.
Where it commonly goes wrong
- The deadline is too short. Nine days is not ten. If the deadline is too short, the formal demand is invalid, and the collection costs cannot be claimed.
- The consequence is not stated in the letter. A formal demand that does not say that the case will go to debt collection and trigger costs does not meet the requirements of Inkassoloven § 10 (the Danish Debt Collection Act).
- The case is passed on before the deadline has expired. The entire basis for the costs is then gone — and they land with you.