Renteloven (the Danish Interest Act)
Also known as the danish interest act, act on interest on late payment, lov om renter ved forsinket betaling
Renteloven lays down what interest and what fees may be charged when payment is late.
In practice
Renteloven (the Danish Interest Act) is the statute a creditor uses most often without knowing it. It holds all the figures that are added on top of the claim:
- default interest — Danmarks Nationalbank’s lending rate plus 8 percentage points
- the reminder fee — 100 kr. per reminder, no more than three, at least 10 days between each
- the compensation fee — the fixed amount of 310 kr. in business-to-business relationships
The rates are ceilings. They cannot be raised by agreement where the debtor is a consumer — but in business-to-business relationships a higher rate of interest may be agreed, and that is one of the cheapest improvements available.
Where it commonly goes wrong
- Using the statutory rate of interest when a higher one could have been agreed. It costs nothing to write it into your terms of trade.