Contract law

The Contract Act, often abbreviated AFTL, contains the legislation for legal transactions in the area of property law.

In other words, the Danish Contracts Act frames the essential legal aspects of a contract - from conclusion, deadlines, rights, termination, etc.

The original contract law dates back to 1917 - and has been continuously revised, most recently in 2021.

Offer and acceptance

The Contract Act is one of the laws you as a business owner should be familiar with, especially when you regularly deal with offers and agreements with customers.

A large part of contract law deals with the offer and acceptance of agreements and offers - for example between you as a company and your customers.

Because when has the customer accepted an offer? Is an offer binding? And what exactly is an acceptance period?

An offer is basically binding on a bidder - and if it is accepted within the acceptance deadline, the offer can be made valid. If the offeree does not accept within the acceptance period, the offeror is not bound by its offer. (Section 2 of the Danish Public Contracts Act)

When are you bound by an offer?

According to the Danish Contracts Act, offers and responses are binding on the sender (tenderer and offeree) (Section 1 of the Contracts Act).

The offer is thus finally binding on both parties when it has been accepted by both parties - within the acceptance period.

Contract law and debt collection

Contract law can easily be used in debt collection - and often is.

In connection with debt collection, you as a creditor can easily submit an offer for an installment plan or similar. Debt collection companies and lawyers can do the same.

It's therefore a good idea to use section 2 of the Danish Contracts Act, where the debtor is offered an acceptance deadline. This puts pressure on the debtor to respond within the acceptance deadline - and as a creditor, you have control of your interest and expenses if the debtor responds within the acceptance deadline.