When should you dispute an invoice – and when is payment under protest appropriate?

May 25, 2024

By The Template Store · Facts verified October 1, 2026

Dispute an invoice when you have a specific objection to the payment demand and want to signal that you do not accept it. Payment under protest is another option: you pay, but simultaneously make it clear that you consider the claim incorrect and intend to reclaim the money.

Typical situations for a dispute

you have not ordered the product or service,
the price differs from the agreement,
the invoice refers to something already paid,
the company is invoicing after an agreement has expired,
the delivery is missing or incorrect and you are entitled to withhold payment under substantive law,
a fee lacks a basis in the agreement or law.

Fraudulent invoice or no agreement

If you have not ordered anything, you should not pay just to avoid discomfort. The Swedish Consumer Agency states that anyone who has not purchased anything is not obligated to pay the invoice, but should inform the company in writing that the invoice is being disputed. In cases of suspected fraudulent claims, the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority recommends: do not pay, dispute, and file a police report.

When is a partial dispute appropriate?

If, for example, 8,000 SEK of a 10,000 SEK invoice is correct, but 2,000 SEK refers to a disputed additional service, you can specify that precisely 2,000 SEK is being disputed. This makes the dispute clearer than a general dispute of the entire invoice.

When might payment under protest be relevant?

The Swedish Consumer Agency describes payment under protest as an option if you are unsure about whether to refrain from paying. Notify the company in writing before or at the same time as the payment that you do not accept the claim, state why, and request a refund.

The downside: after payment, you must pursue the refund claim yourself. This may involve continued dialogue, the National Board for Consumer Disputes (ARN), or court proceedings. Payment under protest is therefore not a general recommendation that is always "safer".

What should you not do?

Do not ignore the invoice if you intend to object.
Do not just write "disputed" without explanation when you can state a concrete ground.
Do not rely on an old internet rule that everything must happen within exactly a certain number of days; follow the deadline in the respective claim or official document.
Do not pay under protest without simultaneously documenting the protest in writing.

If the claim has already been sent to debt collection

Object directly to the debt collection claim and state why. The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority's current rules on good debt collection practice have applied since July 1, 2025. If you have a factually grounded objection, the debt collection agency must investigate the matter and inform you of their assessment.