No cure no pay
Also known as success fee, contingency fee, commission model, provisionsmodel, ingen løsning ingen betaling
No cure no pay means that the collection agency is only paid if the claim is recovered — typically as a percentage of the amount collected.
- Payment
- Only on recovery
- Costs
- A share of the principal
In practice
The model sounds risk-free, and for small, sporadic cases it often is. But the price is paid out of the principal: the success fee is a percentage of your money, not of the debtor’s costs.
For an organisation with volume, the arithmetic turns. A fixed, predictable price with no success fee means you keep the whole principal — and across hundreds of cases a year, the difference is not marginal.
The central question is therefore not “what does it cost if it fails”, but “what does it cost when it succeeds”.
Where it commonly goes wrong
- The model is chosen on risk rather than on volume. No cure no pay is at its most expensive precisely when things go well.
- “No cure” is read as “no cost at all.” Court fees and disbursements in the legal track are typically excluded. Read what “cure” covers.
- Percentages get compared without looking at what the debtor pays. Collection costs land on the debtor — it is the net to you that matters.