Collection fee (inkassosalær)
Also known as collection costs, out-of-court recovery costs, inkassosalær, inkassoomkostninger, udenretlige inddrivelsesomkostninger, inkassogebyr
The collection fee is the out-of-court recovery costs the debtor must pay when a claim is handed over for collection — the amount depends on the size of the principal.
In practice
When a claim is handed over for collection, the creditor can require the out-of-court recovery costs to be borne by the debtor. The amount is not a matter of choice: it follows a scale that rises with the size of the principal, and it cannot be set higher by agreement.
The fee is conditional on the preceding formal demand having been in order. If the 10-day period was missing, or if the letter said nothing about the case going to collection, the costs cannot be passed on to the debtor — the creditor then carries them himself.
The collection fee covers the out-of-court work. If the case goes to court, the court fee and the costs of the proceedings come on top and are assessed under different rules.
Where it commonly goes wrong
- A fee is charged on a case that never had a valid formal demand. It is the most frequent error in in-house collection, and it is an expensive one: the costs land back on the creditor.
- An “administration fee” is added on top. Anything imposed on the debtor must have a basis in law. Invented fees are not merely irrecoverable — they are a breach of good collection practice.