Instalments: the signature that turns 5 years into 10

Signing an instalment agreement sets something in motion that appears on no form: the limitation period does not merely restart — it becomes ten years. For a tradesman's invoice, a doctor's bill or unpaid wages that is twice as long as before. Here are 4 templates in Word and PDF, and next to them the calculation nobody else makes.

📄 Template Word & PDF: 4 templates to fill in

Four situations, four templates — each as a fillable Word file and a printable PDF, in four languages. The text in the generator and the text in the file are the same one: what you see here is what you download. If it is not about instalments but the end of a contract, the notices of termination are ready.

Instalment payment agreement

between
[Creditor name], [Street, postcode, town] — the Creditor

and
[First name Last name], [Street, postcode, town] — the Debtor

1. Claim
The Debtor acknowledges owing the Creditor a claim arising from [Invoice no. …] in the amount of CHF [Amount].

2. Instalments
The claim is settled in [Number] instalments of CHF [Instalment amount] each. The first instalment falls due on [DD.MM.YYYY], the remaining ones on the [e.g. last day of month] of the following months.

3. Payment
Payments are made to account [CH00 0000 0000 0000 0000 0], quoting the reference [Invoice no. …].

4. Default
If an instalment remains unpaid for more than 30 days, the entire remaining balance becomes due immediately without further reminder.

5. Effect on the limitation period
This agreement acknowledges the claim within the meaning of Art. 135 no. 1 CO. Signing restarts the limitation period; because the claim is acknowledged in a written instrument, the new period is ten years under Art. 137 para. 2 CO.

[Place], [DD.MM.YYYY]


Creditor

_____________________________

Debtor

_____________________________

⏳ Limitation and instalments: what the signature triggers

The same applies to any debt acknowledgement, even without an instalment plan. The statute puts it in a subordinate clause. Art. 135 no. 1 CO provides that the limitation period is interrupted when the debtor acknowledges the claim — and it names interest payments and part payments as examples of such an acknowledgement. An instalment is therefore not a separate ground; it counts because it amounts to acknowledgement.

Art. 137 CO then distinguishes how the acknowledgement was made. Paragraph 1: a new period begins with the interruption. Paragraph 2: where the claim is acknowledged in a written instrument, the new period is always ten years. A signed instalment agreement is such an instrument. A bank transfer without paper is not.
⛔ Note on the English wording: the official fedlex translation renders «Ausstellung einer Urkunde» as «public deed». Art. 137 para. 2 does not require a public deed — a written acknowledgement is enough. That is why the paragraph above describes the rule instead of quoting it.

🕰️ Limitation Clock: your date, your period

The ConvivaPlus Limitation Clock runs both paths side by side: when the claim would have lapsed without any action — and when it lapses after the acknowledgement. Everything is calculated in the browser; nothing is transmitted.

How the ConvivaPlus Limitation Clock calculates: base period from the due date (Art. 127 or 128 CO) against the new period from the acknowledgement — ten years for a written acknowledgement (Art. 137 para. 2), otherwise the base period again (Art. 137 para. 1). ⛔ Not taken into account: suspension and impediment (Art. 134), special periods outside the CO, and the waiver under Art. 141. The clock orders the rule; it decides no individual case.

📋 Which period applies to your claim

The ConvivaPlus Limitation Register orders the claims the statute names expressly. The list is not a selection but a closed set: Art. 128 CO enumerates the five-year claims in three numbers, and everything not listed there lapses after ten years under Art. 127. The last column shows what a signature makes of it: it comes from the ConvivaPlus analysis of the two provisions and appears in that form in no statute.

⛔ Whether a specific invoice falls under Art. 128 CO is, in a dispute, a question of law. «Work of tradesmen» and «retail sale of goods» are statutory concepts, not industry labels. The register orders the cases the statute names; it decides no individual case.

💰 How high instalments should be

No amount is fixed by law — it is negotiated. Three figures decide whether a proposal is accepted:

🚫 The creditor refuses — what then

Nobody is obliged to accept instalments. A refusal is not an end point but the moment the path changes, and the next step is usually the payment reminder:

⚖️ Enforcement already running: are instalments still possible

Yes — and responsibility shifts. Under Art. 123 para. 1 DEBA, if the debtor shows credibly that the debt can be settled in instalments and undertakes to pay regular, appropriate instalments to the enforcement office, the official may postpone realisation by up to twelve months once the first instalment has been paid. For first-class claims the postponement is six months at most (para. 2). Enforcement often rests on a debt acknowledgement, the same instrument that extends the limitation period.

⚠️ Common mistakes with instalments

Four keep recurring — and three cost money or time:

An instalment is paid in francs. A signature is paid in years.

🧭 Four steps to a signed agreement

From the open amount to a document both sides hold:

Written by

Miriam Frei

ConvivaPlus Editor · Law & Housing

Writes about tenancy, contract and everyday law – legal texts turned into vetted templates.

• Tenancy law
• Contract law
• Templates
• Housing

Researched & sourced · for Switzerland

Profile & all articles →·Our editorial teamUpdated 20 September 2026