How to secure the claim before you deliver
Security interests, guarantees and retention of title — the three ways to turn an unsecured invoice into a claim with security behind it.
You know which form of security fits the transaction — and when it has to be agreed for it to hold.
Step by step
- 01
Work out what you are actually risking
An ongoing trading relationship of 20,000 kr. a month and a single delivery of 800,000 kr. are not the same problem. Security costs time and goodwill — spend it where the loss would hurt.
- 02
Consider retention of title if you sell goods
A retention of title means the goods remain yours until they have been paid for. It has to be agreed by the time of delivery at the latest — and it has to be stated plainly, not buried in a term the buyer never saw.
This is where it goes wrongA retention of title that first appears on the invoice has come too late. By then the goods are delivered, and the reservation was never agreed.
- 03
Ask for a guarantee when the company is thin
If you are selling to a newly formed ApS (a Danish private limited company), it is the owner, not the company, that holds the value. A personal guarantee moves the risk to where the money is. It has to be in writing to be worth anything.
- 04
Take a security interest when there is something to take it in
A possessory pledge, a company charge (virksomhedspant) or a charge over real property. It is heavier to establish, but it is also the strongest security — and it is what decides whether you get anything at all if the customer goes bankrupt.
- 05
Write the security into the agreement — and keep it on file
Security that cannot be documented does not exist on the day it is needed. Signature, date and the terms attached. That is what carries the claim in the bailiff's court.
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.
You think the invoice is security
It is evidence of the claim, not security for it. Without a security interest, a guarantee or a retention of title you are an unsecured creditor — last in the queue if the customer goes bankrupt.
The guarantee is oral
"He said he would stand behind it" is not a guarantee. It has to be in writing, and it has to be signed by the person who is liable.
You ask for security once it is too late
Once the customer already owes you money, the negotiating power is gone. Security is agreed while you still have something the customer wants.