Demand Letter Pack

Netherlands · Loan repayment

You lent money and it has not come back: ask for it back in writing

If no repayment date was agreed, Dutch law gives the borrower a fixed period to repay once you ask for the money back. If a date was agreed and has passed, the letter puts the borrower in default and gives a final deadline. You answer the questions and get that letter in Dutch or English, with the dates worked out.

Start your letterFrom €49, paid once. You do not need an account.

The questions and the documents that come with the letters (checklist, timeline, next steps and memo) are in English. The letters can be written in Dutch or English.

Other languages: Nederlands

The rules your letter follows

From our rules for the Netherlands, checked item by item against the official sources. Interest rates are reset from time to time; the list shows the current ones.

Period to repay when no date was agreed
42 days
After your request for repayment reaches the borrower, unless the agreement says otherwise. For an older loan, made before this rule took effect, the letter does not state it.
Final term once an agreed date has passed
14 days
You can choose up to 30 days. If you claim collection costs from a private individual, the letter allows more time.
Statutory interest, on a loan from a private individual
4%
Until 31 December 2026. Runs from the date the borrower is in default.
Collection costs
€40 to €6,775
By the statutory scale, depending on the amount, and only once the borrower is in default. A borrower who is a private individual must first get a reminder with at least 14 days to pay.
Limitation period
5 years
From the day after the agreed repayment date or, if none was agreed, from the day after the date by which you asked to be repaid. A written demand interrupts it.
Court
Kantonrechter
Claims up to €25,000, without a lawyer.
How to send it
Registered post
With acknowledgement of receipt (aangetekend met ontvangstbevestiging), and by email.

What the letter does

If no repayment date was agreed, the letter asks for the money back. The borrower then has 42 days to repay, counted from when your request reaches them, and the date in the letter allows for that period and for the post. This first letter is not yet a notice of default; the final notice in the Complete pack is.

If a repayment date was agreed and has passed, the letter asks for the outstanding amount by a final deadline and puts the borrower in default. If the loan is repayable in instalments and the schedule is still running, it asks only for the missed instalments. If you agreed that the whole remaining balance becomes due when a payment is missed, the letter says that you will rely on that agreement if the missed instalments are not paid in time, and the final notice in the Complete pack does so while still claiming only the missed instalments.

The letter describes the loan: the amount, the date, how the money was paid, and that it was a loan, not a gift. It refers only to evidence you mention in your answers.

Who can use it

The letter is for money you lent as a private individual, to another private individual or to a business, and for loans between businesses. A loan from a business to a private individual is usually consumer credit, with rules of its own, so the letter is not available for it.

If they still do not pay

Claims up to €25,000 go to the kantonrechter, where you can act without a lawyer. Above that amount the claim goes to the rechtbank (district court), where a lawyer is required. A bailiff (deurwaarder) serves the summons, and there is a court fee that depends on the amount. The escalation memo in the Complete pack describes these steps; it does not tell you which one to take.

Where the rules come from

  • art. 7:129e BWMoney loan (geldlening) without an agreed repayment date: when repayment falls due after a demand (not for a loan with an agreed repayment date)

    checked 7 October 2026

  • art. 6:82 BWNotice of default (ingebrekestelling)

    checked 7 October 2026

  • art. 6:96 BWExtrajudicial collection costs and the consumer 14-day reminder

    checked 7 October 2026

What is in the envelope

Word and PDF files you can change before you send anything.

  1. 01

    Demand letter

    The formal letter, in the language you choose. Your amount and payment details, with the deadline and any interest and costs set according to the rules.

  2. 02

    Evidence checklist

    What to keep and what to send along, checked against the files you uploaded.

  3. 03

    Timeline

    Your dispute as a list of dates, including the ones still to come.

  4. 04

    Next steps

    How to send the letter so you can prove it arrived, and what to do with each kind of reply.

  5. 05

    Final demandComplete

    A shorter second letter with a last deadline, for when the first one passes.

  6. 06

    Escalation memoComplete

    Court, collection agencies and lawyers: what each involves. It describes, it does not recommend.

How it goes

  1. Today

    You answer the questions. It takes about ten minutes, and your answers save as you go.

  2. Today

    You read the summary and pay. The documents arrive a few minutes later, as Word and PDF.

  3. When you are ready

    You sign the letter and send it yourself, so it comes from you.

Questions

How long does the borrower have to repay?

That depends on what you agreed. If a repayment date was agreed and has passed, the letter gives a final term of 14 days; you can choose up to 30 days. If no date was agreed, the borrower has 42 days after your request reaches them, unless your agreement says otherwise.

Can I claim interest?

If you lent the money as a private individual, statutory interest runs from the date the borrower is in default, and the letter claims it if you ask it to. If the borrower is a private individual, interest on the loan itself is due only if it was agreed in writing.

I lent the money through my business to a private individual.

Then the letter is not available. Such a loan is usually consumer credit, which has rules of its own.

Can I have the letter written in English?

Yes. Dutch is the default, and you can choose English instead.

P.S.

An AI system writes the drafts. Before you see them, our software checks each one for facts you did not give, legal references we have not verified and anything that reads like a threat. No lawyer reads them. They are document drafts and general information, not legal advice. Your answers are deleted 30 days after delivery, or earlier if you ask.

How the AI is usedPrivacy noticeRefunds

Start your letter

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