Loan Agreement Switzerland: free template to fill in (PDF & Word) – plus the risk check that protects your money from quiet total loss
«Sure, I'll lend you the 15,000 – between us we don't need a contract.» A handshake, a beer, done. Until your buddy, three years later, shrugs and claims it was a gift – and you don't have a scrap of paper. Here's the free template that makes your private loan provable in two minutes – and a tool no one else has: the risk traffic light, which checks live whether your contract is watertight under CO Art. 312–318.
🏛️ What the law says for private loans (and what happens if you regulate nothing)
The biggest misconception first: a loan between private individuals is not harmless just because you know each other. Swiss law treats the loan agreement (Art. 312 et seq. CO) as a serious matter with clear duties. Good to know: written form is not mandatory – a verbal loan is valid too. But that's no use in court if the other side denies ever receiving the money. That's why the written contract with a receipt of payment is your only real protection.
Here's the thing almost everyone has backwards: lend money privately and you have no legal right to a single rappen of interest – unless you agreed it in black and white (Art. 313 para. 1 CO). If the contract is silent, the loan runs interest-free. In business it's the opposite: interest accrues even without an agreement. And every gap you leave open, the law fills itself – rarely in your favour.
These are exactly the three points most people forget – and exactly where the law enforces its own rules:
📝 Your loan agreement in 2 minutes
Twelve fields. Two minutes. And you get what ten «free templates» off Google won't give you: a contract with the one line everything hinges on in court – the receipt of payment. Fill in the fields and the generator turns them into a complete loan agreement valid throughout Switzerland, with every mandatory clause. Download as PDF, print, both sign, done. And to fine-tune, copy the text and tweak it in Word.
🛠️ Loan agreement generator
Fill in the fields → finished contract as PDF or to copy. Free, no sign-up.
LOAN AGREEMENT
between … (hereinafter «Lender») and … (hereinafter «Borrower»). 1. Loan amount The Lender grants the Borrower a loan of CHF … (in words: …). Purpose: …. 2. Disbursement and receipt of payment Disbursement: …. By signing, the Borrower confirms having received the above amount in full. 3. Interest Interest rate: … per year. Agreed interest is due at the end of each year. 4. Repayment Repayment: …. Due: …. Payments are made provably (bank transfer, no cash). 5. Termination Notice period: …. Termination shall be in writing (registered mail recommended). 6. Default … Otherwise, from default the Borrower owes default interest of 5 % per year (Art. 104 CO). 7. Applicable law and limitation Swiss law applies (Art. 312 et seq. CO). The claim lapses after 10 years (Art. 127 CO). … Lender's signature: __________________ Borrower's signature (also serving as receipt of payment): __________________
Tip: transfer the sum by bank, never in cash – that way, besides the receipt, you also have the payment flow as proof. For an interest-free loan, write «interest-free» expressly so no one claims interest later.
This template is no substitute for legal advice. For large amounts or complex cases, consult a lawyer or notary.
🚦 The risk traffic light: does your contract hold up in a dispute?
This is where most private loans fail, and no other template portal tells you: a contract is only as strong as its weakest clause. That's exactly why we built the ConvivaPlus risk traffic light – the first live check of its kind in Switzerland. It tests your contract against the five points where private loans collapse in court time and again, and tells you in a second whether it goes green, amber or red. Click through and find the gap before it costs you your money.
🚦 ConvivaPlus loan risk traffic light
Five clicks: checks the critical points of your loan agreement under CO Art. 312–318.
Almost there. One or two points are still missing. Every gap is an entry point in a dispute – fill it via the generator above before the money moves. The receipt of payment and a clear repayment date in particular belong in there.
Indicative check, not legal advice. Private loans are not subject to the Consumer Credit Act (CCA) – which only covers commercial credit. Interest contrary to public morals can nonetheless be challenged (Art. 21 CO).
How the ConvivaPlus risk traffic light scores: it counts how many of the five points decisive in court your contract covers. If one of the two key points is missing (written contract or regulated repayment) or there are three or more gaps, it turns red; for one or two minor gaps, amber. This weighting is the assessment according to ConvivaPlus, derived from the typical disputes over private loans under CO Art. 312–318.
🧮 Default-interest & limitation calculator
If your borrower doesn't pay, the clock ticks twice over: from default the statutory 5 % interest runs (Art. 104 CO), and in the background your claim quietly lapses. This calculator shows you both in seconds – how much default interest has already accrued and the date on which your money would be legally lost.
🧮 Default-interest & limitation calculator
Enter the unpaid amount and the due date → default interest (5 %, Art. 104 CO) and limitation date (Art. 127 CO).
Tip: interrupt the limitation period in time. A debt-collection action, a lawsuit or a written acknowledgement of debt resets the 10-year period to zero (Art. 135 CO).
Indicative value. Statutory default interest is 5 % per year (Art. 104 CO) unless a higher rate was agreed; the claim lapses 10 years after the due date (Art. 127 CO). The actual contract remains decisive.
📋 What must absolutely be in the loan agreement
A handshake and an «all good»? In court, that's confetti. A loan agreement that really holds needs seven building blocks – and most often it's precisely the one proving the money actually moved that's missing. The generator above builds all seven in automatically. Here's why each one protects your money.
| Building block | What's needed | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Parties | Full name + address of lender and borrower | Without clear parties, no enforceable contract – who owes whom. |
| Loan amount | Amount in figures AND in words | Words rule out the dispute over a misplaced zero. |
| Receipt of payment | Confirmation that the money was received | The most frequent dispute: without a receipt the borrower denies receipt. |
| Interest | Rate per year – or expressly «interest-free» | Privately, interest is owed only if agreed (Art. 313 CO). |
| Repayment | Date or instalment plan + due date | Without a date only the statutory 6-week notice applies (Art. 318 CO). |
| Default/termination | Clause in case of arrears | Makes the balance due all at once on arrears – otherwise tedious debt collection. |
| Signatures | Place, date + signature of both parties | Turns the contract into a valid, provable document. |
⚠️ The 5 costliest mistakes with private loans
Each of these five mistakes has already cost someone the money they lent – and often the friendship. The most common one happens before a single franc even moves. Read them once, and you'll fall into none.
Agreed only verbally. «We know each other, right?» regularly ends in disaster in court. Without a written contract and receipt of payment, the borrower can simply deny ever receiving money – and you're left empty-handed.
No repayment date. Without a date only the statutory 6-week notice applies (Art. 318 CO), and the limitation period runs. After 10 years your money is legally gone – even if the debt is crystal clear.
Interest not regulated. If the contract is silent, the private loan is interest-free (Art. 313 CO) – whoever wanted interest loses out. Conversely, undisclosed but collected interest leads to trouble with the tax office. Write the rate (or «interest-free») expressly.
Limitation overlooked. The 10-year period is interrupted only by a payment, a debt-collection action, a lawsuit or a renewed acknowledgement of debt (Art. 135 CO). Whoever never follows up loses the claim silently.
Loan forgotten in the tax return. The lender must declare the claim in the securities schedule (wealth tax), interest received as income. Concealing it risks a back tax. The borrower may in turn deduct the debt.
A loan among friends only becomes a friendly favour once it's in writing – otherwise it's often the beginning of the end of the friendship.
✅ The valid loan agreement in 5 steps
Five steps, none longer than your coffee break – and at the end, a contract on the table that actually holds. Here's how to go from the agreement to the disbursement without a forgotten line tripping you up years later.
The limitation trick almost no one knows: every instalment or interest payment, every debt-collection action and every renewed written acknowledgement of debt resets the 10-year period to zero (Art. 135 CO). For a long-running loan, having a small payment or a brief «I acknowledge the remaining debt of CHF …» note signed once a year keeps the claim alive almost indefinitely. The same care pays off for any money-in-the-family matter, such as the advance inheritance.
What's your situation?
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❓ Frequently asked questions about loan agreements
The questions buzzing around before every private loan – answered briefly and honestly.
People also ask
Related questions from our magazine
All information without guarantee. Found an error? → support@conviva-plus.ch
A private loan is valid even verbally – but practically unprovable in a dispute. The most important sentence in the contract is the receipt of payment: without it, the borrower can claim the money never moved. And: the claim lapses after 10 years (Art. 127 CO).
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Discussion
6 voices from the community
That's exactly what happened to me: lent a colleague 8,000 francs, all arranged over WhatsApp. Now he says it was a gift. Without a receipt I'm stuck. If only I'd read this article two years earlier.
The risk traffic light is brilliant. For me it was amber right away because the default clause was missing. Two clicks later in the generator, now green. Finally a tool that tells me WHAT's missing, not just that something is.
Thanks, Claudia – that's exactly why we built the traffic light. The default clause is the point that makes the whole balance due at once if things go wrong, instead of chasing each instalment. Glad it's green for you now.
The most important sentence in the whole article: 5 % on default, even if the loan is interest-free. Didn't know that. Quoted it to my brother-in-law, and suddenly the instalment arrived.
That I have to declare the loan as a claim in my tax return was new to me. Good that it was here and not first in the letter from the tax office. Added it, all clean.
Lent my son money for the car. Template printed, both signed, money transferred instead of cash – just as it says here. Simple, clear, no lawyer-speak. Thanks.
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