Statute of limitations on debt means the creditor loses the right to claim the money. The main rule is three years from due date. But the deadline restarts if you acknowledge the claim, and the statute of limitations never happens automatically — you must assert it yourself.
The main rule for statute of limitations on debt is three years
An ordinary money claim becomes time-barred three years after due date. The Statute of Limitations Act § 2 states that "the general statute of limitations period is 3 years". The period runs from the day the creditor first had the right to claim payment (§ 3 no. 1).
The deadline thus starts at the due date on the original invoice, not at the reminder, the collection notice, or the last demand letter. If the claim is due to a breach, the period runs from the day the breach occurred (§ 3 no. 2).
An example: an invoice was due on 15 March 2023. Then the claim becomes time-barred on 15 March 2026, if nothing has interrupted the period in the meantime.
Finanstilsynet registered 11 736 400 new collection cases in 2025, and at the end of 2025 there were 6 684 620 cases under execution, an increase of 2.7 percent from the year before. See also the entire collection process from reminder to garnishment.
Three years for bills, ten years for loans
Loans and debt securities have ten years, ordinary bills have three.
| Type of claim | Period | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Bills: electricity, mobile, rent, dentist, gym | 3 years | § 2 |
| Debt security or claim in a securities central depository | 10 years | § 5 no. 1 |
| Personal loan, principal | 10 years | § 5 no. 2 |
| Interest on personal loan | 3 years | § 5 no. 2 |
| Credit given by the seller in a credit purchase | 3 years | § 5 no. 2 |
| Alimony | 10 years | § 6 |
| Damages | 3 years from you became aware, as a main rule maximum 20 years (§ 9 no. 2 makes exceptions for certain personal injuries) | § 9 |
Interest makes up a large part of the amount. The principal on a loan has ten years, while interest has three. In Finanstilsynet's figures for 2025, accrued interest accounted for 40.02 of 117.71 billion kroner in consumer cases, and 44.4 percent of credit card debt.
The ten-year rule does not apply to loans given by the seller, or someone by agreement with the seller, to finance a credit purchase. A bank-issued credit card is a personal loan with ten years. A partial payment you agreed to at the checkout falls outside. If you are in doubt, ask the creditor to document the agreement basis.
What happens if I pay a little on an old claim?
Then the entire period starts anew. The Statute of Limitations Act § 14 states that the statute of limitations is interrupted "when the debtor expressly or by his conduct acknowledges the obligation, such as by a promise to pay or by paying interest".
This counts as acknowledgement:
- You promise to pay by phone, chat, SMS or email.
- You sign a payment plan agreement.
- You pay a small instalment or interest on the claim.
After an acknowledgement, a new period of the same length as the original runs (§ 20). For an ordinary consumer claim, that means three new years, not ten. You cannot waive the statute of limitations in advance (§ 28), but after the claim arises you can commit yourself to extending the period by up to three years at a time, up to a maximum of ten years total. Therefore read "just sign here" agreements carefully.
Court judgement and garnishment give the creditor ten new years
The creditor can keep the claim alive through legal steps. The statute of limitations is interrupted by conciliation action or summons (§ 15) and by application for garnishment with the bailiff, previously called the bailiff (§ 17):
- Court judgement or conciliation settlement: new period of 10 years from the decision (§ 21 no. 2).
- Garnishment without full recovery: "a new period of 10 years from the conclusion of the case is counted" (§ 21 no. 3). In practice this also applies when the result is "nothing to garnish".
- Ongoing wage garnishment: no statute of limitations as long as the garnishment is in place (§ 21 no. 1). If the garnishment stops, the statute of limitations occurs at the earliest one year later (§ 22 no. 4).
A garnishment attempt that did not give the creditor a single krone still resets the clock to ten new years. Collection companies sent 367 300 garnishment applications over a twelve-month period, according to Finanstilsynet's statistics for 2025. See how wage garnishment is set and how much you get to keep.
Interest does not disappear by itself after legal action. As long as the interest-bearing claim exists, the period does not run for later accrued interest (§ 21 no. 5).
Statute of limitations does not happen by itself — here is how you assert it
No one deletes the claim for you. Neither the court, the bailiff, nor the collection company brings up the statute of limitations on its own initiative. The Dispute Act § 11-2 states that the court may only base its decision "on the grounds of claim that have been raised". If you say nothing in conciliation court, a time-barred claim can become a valid judgement against you. Here is how you do it:
- Write to the collection company. An objection to them has the same effect as against the creditor (Enforcement Act § 13).
- Use a clear sentence: "I dispute the claim and assert the statute of limitations under the Statute of Limitations Act § 2, cf. § 3. The claim was due [date]. I have not acknowledged the claim or paid it since then. I request a written reply."
- Include the case number and date, and keep a copy. The period is met when the letter is posted in Norway before it expires (§ 29 no. 3).
- If the bailiff has sent a garnishment notice, you submit your objection there. Objections to the claim existing cannot be set aside as being submitted too late (Enforcement Code § 5-6 second paragraph).
- If the garnishment is made anyway, you can appeal to the district court. The appeal is sent through the bailiff (§ 5-16).
It costs nothing to assert the statute of limitations. If you had objections "that there was reasonable reason to have considered" before collection started, the collection costs cannot be claimed from you either (Enforcement Act § 17 second paragraph).
What a time-barred claim loses — and what it does not lose
If the claim becomes time-barred, the creditor loses the right to payment (§ 24 no. 1), and the interest falls away together with the principal claim (§ 24 no. 2).
But the statute of limitations does not clear everything. It has "no effect on lien and retention rights" (§ 27 no. 3). If the claim has a lien on real estate or registered sale lien, the lien remains in place.
A payment default notice does not disappear because the claim is old. Notes normally assume that the creditor has been to the bailiff or to the court, and then the claim has received a new period. Read about what a payment default notice does, and the 4-year rule for deletion.
Have you lived abroad? Then the deadline may have stopped
If you left the country after the claim arose, the creditor can get extra time. The statute of limitations occurs at the earliest one year after the day the creditor knew or should have known that you again have ordinary jurisdiction in Norway (§ 10 no. 3). The same one-year rule applies when the creditor lacked knowledge of the claim or of you (§ 10 no. 1).
This extends the period, but does not abolish it. In total it cannot be extended by more than ten years (§ 10 no. 4).
If the collection company continues to demand payment from you
Complain in writing to the collection company first. Finansklagenemnda (FinKN) only handles cases the company has finished processing.
- How to complain: use the complaint form to Finansklagenemnda Inkasso on finkn.no. The board does not accept complaints by email.
- What FinKN can decide: collection costs, missing notices, breach of collection practice and payment default notices that are not deleted after settlement.
- What FinKN cannot decide: the claim itself, that is, the invoice the claim is based on.
- The statute of limitations itself: is decided in conciliation court or district court, or by appealing the garnishment. If you dispute the claim, it can be brought directly to court (Enforcement Act § 12 third paragraph).
The Economy and Debt Guidance service at NAV (arbeids- og velferdsetaten) is free: call 55 55 33 39. If the claims are valid and too many, debt settlement and free debt advice is the next step. If you yourself have money coming, the rules work the opposite way: see how you file a conciliation action with conciliation court.
Deadlines and complaint procedures are part of the civic knowledge many must go through. SamfunnPrep has practice tasks on economics and rights. Try the free test at SamfunnPrep.
