When to use it
Send it the moment a claim changes owner — on factoring, on a sale of receivables, on an intra-group assignment. A claim is an asset and can be sold, but the debtor must be told. If they are not, they can pay the old creditor with discharging effect, and the money is then gone from the new owner, whatever the assignment agreement says. In Danish law this notice is called a denuntiation.
It has to be right
The wording is rarely the problem. It is the deadline, the fee and what the letter leaves out — and the mistake costs you the expenses, not the debtor.
- Send it to the debtor. Without notice, they can pay the old creditor in good faith — and be discharged
- State precisely which invoices have been assigned
- State the new place of payment unambiguously. Doubt here produces delay, not payment
- Send it from the ASSIGNING creditor. A letter from an unknown sender looks like an attempted fraud
How to fill it in
Most placeholders are trivial. These are not.
- The sender
- The letter must come from the creditor the debtor knows. A letter from a company they have never heard of, asking them to pay somewhere else, looks exactly like the fraud it resembles — and they will not pay.
- The invoices
- Name them one by one. A general notice that "all outstanding balances" have been assigned creates doubt about what applies to the invoices that have not been issued yet.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if I do not send the notice?
The debtor can pay the original creditor with discharging effect. They have done the right thing, and the new owner of the claim must seek the money from the old creditor — not from the debtor.
Does the debtor have to approve the assignment?
No. As a starting point, a monetary claim can be assigned without the debtor consenting. They simply have to be notified — unless the contract itself says otherwise.
Legal disclaimer. The template is generic and free to use. It is not legal advice and does not take account of the circumstances of your particular case. Rates, deadlines and statutory references change — check them before you use the document. If the claim is large, disputed or heading for court, call us before you send anything.