Ability to pay (betalingsevne)
Also known as capacity to pay, willingness to pay, payment behaviour, payment history, betalingsevne, betalingsvillighed, betalingsadfærd, betalingshistorik
Ability to pay is the debtor's actual capacity to pay — as distinct from the willingness to pay.
In practice
The distinction between ability and willingness is the single most important assessment in a collection case, and it decides what should happen next.
Where willingness is missing, pressure works: a collection letter, a default listing, the bailiff’s court. The debtor has the money and simply has to choose to pay.
Where ability is missing, pressure does not work. You cannot squeeze money out of someone who has none — you can only burn court fees and trigger a bar on further enforcement (spærretid) in the bailiff’s court. The right answer is a realistic instalment plan or monitoring.
Treating the two the same way is the most expensive mistake in debt collection.
Where it commonly goes wrong
- Escalating against a debtor with no means. It produces no money and costs you the expenses.
- Granting forbearance to someone who simply cannot be bothered to pay. That buys him another six months.