How to write terms and conditions that entitle you to interest and fees
The case is decided long before it becomes a case — in what the customer accepted at the point of purchase.
Your terms entitle you to interest, fees and costs — and they have been accepted, so you can actually rely on them.
Step by step
- 01
Make sure the terms are accepted — not merely available
Terms sitting on a website are not automatically part of the contract. They must be accepted before, or at the latest at the same time as, the contract is concluded. Terms that first surface on the invoice have arrived too late.
This is where it goes wrongThat is the first thing to give way when a debtor raises an objection — "I have never seen those".
- 02
Write a clear payment deadline
"Net 30 days from the invoice date" is a deadline. "Payment by agreement" is not. Without a deadline there is no due date — and without a due date there is neither interest, nor a reminder fee, nor a process that can be set in motion.
- 03
Agree the rate of interest
Between businesses, the rate of interest can be agreed. If nothing has been agreed, the rate under Renteloven (the Danish Interest Act) applies. If you write a higher rate into your terms, it must have been agreed — not invented on the invoice after the event.
- 04
State that the costs of collection are borne by the buyer
Reminder fees and collection costs follow from statute within the limits statute allows, but a clear contractual basis makes them easier to enforce — and it removes the argument before it starts.
- 05
Include a retention of title if you supply goods
If you sell goods on credit, a retention of title can mean that you get the goods back if payment is not made. It requires that the retention has been agreed no later than at delivery — not discovered afterwards.
This is where it most often goes wrong
Not because anyone is careless, but because the mistakes are easy to make and only surface once it is too late.
Your terms are excellent, but nobody can prove the customer saw them
Keep the acceptance. An order confirmation with the terms attached or expressly referred to is worth more than twenty pages of well-drafted terms that nobody can document.
You use the same terms for B2B and B2C
The rules are not the same, and consumer protection imposes limits that do not apply between businesses. One set of terms for both rarely holds up.
You extend credit without knowing who you are extending it to
The best terms in the world are no help against a customer with no ability to pay. A credit check before the first invoice is cheaper than a collection case afterwards.