§ 3-23. How information must be given before the financial agreement (finansavtale)

This section says how the duty of disclosure in § 3-22 must be fulfilled. The starting point is that terms and information must be given in writing, in a document the customer can keep. In distance selling to a consumer (sales without a physical meeting), there is an additional requirement: the information must also be presented in a way that suits the method of distance communication chosen.

The third paragraph provides a practical shortcut. The service provider is deemed to have fulfilled the duty when the customer has received a draft of the agreement, or of a single payment order, that contains the terms and the information. For a personal guarantee (kausjon) (where a person vouches for someone else's loan), the requirement is somewhat broader: the guarantor must have received a draft of the guarantee agreement and either a copy or a draft of the credit agreement that the liability is to cover, both containing the relevant information.

Example: A service provider sends a customer a draft agreement with all terms and information before the agreement is entered into. The duty of disclosure is then considered fulfilled. If the customer is a consumer and the sale takes place at a distance, the draft must also be adapted to the method of communication.

This section must be read together with § 3-22, which sets out the duty and the timing. Under § 3-22 third paragraph, in certain distance selling cases the information may be given right after the agreement has been entered into. For offers made in a telephone call, § 3-39 adds its own requirements, including that offers the customer has not asked for must be accepted in writing. The fourth paragraph allows further rules in regulations on how the duty is to be fulfilled.

What must be given is set out in the following sections: for example, information about the service provider (§ 3-24), about entering into the agreement and the right of withdrawal (angrerett) (§ 3-25), about dispute resolution (§ 3-26) and about the use of the service (§ 3-27). This section only provides the framework for the format, not the content.