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MONEY

Danish energy company hands out cash to customers: Here’s how to check if you qualify

Andel, a Danish energy provider which services parts of Zealand, on Tuesday said it would pay out 2,500 kroner to some 400,000 of its customers.

Published: 13 February 2024 16:47 CET
Danish energy company hands out cash to customers: Here’s how to check if you qualify
A Danish energy company is rewarding customers for its huge profits in 2022. Photo: Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix

Recipients of the money from Andel get the cash without any obligations and can receive it in their accounts by the end of the week, media Børsen and TV2 report.

The cash bonuses have also been announced by Andel itself in a press statement.

The extraordinary decision by the company means that anyone who lives in, or owns a summer house or business in the area of Zealand served by the Cerius electricity board can receive the money.

The company decided to distribute a portion of its profits to customers after making a profit amounting to billions of kroner in 2022, as energy prices soared due in part to the war in Ukraine.

While customers felt the pinch of high energy costs in 2022 in particular, many energy companies benefited from a bumper year.

“That is why shareholders now have the extraordinary opportunity to receive a share of Andel’s profit for 2022,” head of the board Jens Stenbæk said in the statement.

The total to be paid out by the company will be 850 million kroner.

Am I eligible to receive the money?

If you, as of February 6th 2024, lived or owned a summer house or business in the areas served by the Cerius electricity infrastructure, you are automatically a shareholder in Andel and have the right to receive the money.

Cerius covers the southwestern half of Zealand along with the islands Møn, Lolland and Falster. A map of the area can be seen on the electricity board’s website.

To get the money, you must enter information into a portal on the Andel website by May 31st this year.

The energy company will then validate you as a shareholder, and you will be paid the money. Only one person in the household can receive the money. Those who registered on Tuesday should see it in their accounts by the end of this week according to TV2.

In the statement, Andel encouraged customers and shareholders to pass on information about the money to friends and family who may not be aware they are shareholders in the company.

The company’s website is seeing heavy queuing at the time of writing.

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MONEY

What happens if you don’t pay a bill in Denmark?

Denmark's courts can enforce collection of unpaid debts and fines. So, what happens as an unpaid bill moves through the system, and can you do anything if you have a black mark on your record?

Published: 22 April 2024 17:10 CEST
What happens if you don't pay a bill in Denmark?

What happens when you have a bill?

Usually, if you have a bill in Denmark (or receive a fine like a parking or speeding ticket), you will receive an invoice (faktura, also known as a regning or ‘bill’) either digitally or via post. This will include details such as the amount owed, who to pay and the date payment is due (betalingsdato or forfaldsdato).

If you don’t pay the invoice on time, the person you owe money to will initially send you a rykker or reminder. This can be sent from days to weeks after the original payment date has passed, and will often be accompanied by a rykkergebyr or late payment fee, for the a relatively small amount of 100 kroner. Up to three of these can be sent.

If you pay a bill after the due date but before a rykker reaches you, there are usually no further consequences.

If you still don’t pay after receiving these reminders, the creditor may turn the case over to inkasso, or a debt collection agency, who will again send you an invoice for payment, plus the agency’s fee – likely to be considerably higher than the late payment fee from the creditor.

It’s also worth keeping in mind other consequences of not paying bills – for example, a landlord may be able to cancel your rental contract if you do not pay rent within a given time. This will be stated in the contract.

What happens next?

If this invoice goes unpaid, the courts may eventually get involved.

If you don’t pay after the debt has been sent to an inkasso agency, you will be summoned to the fogedret, essentially a court for settling debts between individuals and businesses. The summons is usually delivered via e-Boks, the secure digital post system used in Denmark. Fogedret courts come under the district court system, so there will be one local to where you live.

At the court, you will be required to agree on a new payment system with the creditor. This could cost more than the original invoice because the creditor’s costs are accounted for.

The final step of this process allows the creditor to forcibly recover your debt through any assets you might have, like a house or car. These can eventually be confiscated and auctioned under the court’s authority if the debt is not paid off under the agreed schedule.

Denmark’s debt collection agency (Gældsstyrelsen) can meanwhile make deductions from your salary if you have unserviced debts to the state.

If you cannot agree a payment schedule and do not have any possession against which the debt may be recovered, you may be able to declare insolvency.

The RKI register

RKI is Denmark’s national register of people who have defaulted debts. Every big company subscribes to this register, which is important because it can make it harder to be approved for a mortgage or other loan, a rented apartment, credit card, or even a phone contract or fuel discount card.

You can check whether you are on Denmark’s RKI register by visiting the dininfo.dk website and logging in using your MitID digital ID.

Can I do anything to be removed from the RKI?

RKI registrations last for a standard five years per defaulted debt – so after this time, you may no longer appear on the register. Additionally, if you agree a payment schedule with a creditor, you may be able to include removal from the RKI register as part of this agreement.

Sources: dingaeld.dk, borger.dk

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