Free acknowledgement of debt template
A free acknowledgement of debt template for Kenya. Under section 23(3) of the Limitation of Actions Act, where the person liable for a debt acknowledges the claim or makes a payment towards it, the right of action accrues on the date of that acknowledgement and not before — so the six-year limitation period in section 4(1)(a) starts again. Section 24(1) requires the acknowledgement to be in writing and signed by the person making it.
What you still need to do
- If you are the debtor, read clause 6 before you sign. Signing restarts the six-year limitation period against you from today — section 23(3) of the Limitation of Actions Act. If you dispute any part of the sum, write that into clause 3 instead of signing it clean.
- The debtor must sign it. Section 24(1) requires the acknowledgement to be in writing and signed by the person making it; a creditor’s statement of account is not an acknowledgement.
- Check the amount against the underlying invoices, statements or loan record before signing — the figure in clause 1 is the one that becomes hard to argue with afterwards.
- Keep every receipt. Each payment is itself an acknowledgement under section 23(3), and the receipts are how either side proves when the last one was.
- Where one person is promising to answer for another person’s debt, that promise must be in writing and signed to be sued upon — Law of Contract Act section 3(1).
Why each clause is here
Every clause in this document is drawn from the provision named beside it, and the wording of each provision was read in the Act itself. Where the law fixes something a document cannot change, this is where it says so.
Section 24(2) of the Limitation of Actions Act requires the acknowledgement to be made to the person whose claim is being acknowledged, or to that person’s agent — so the document has to name who the debt is owed to, not merely that a debt exists. Naming both parties with their identity numbers is what lets the creditor prove, later, that the person who signed is the person being sued.
An acknowledgement works by admitting the claim, so the amount and its origin have to be stated with enough precision that it is clear WHICH debt is being acknowledged. 🔴 Clause 3 carries a reservation blank deliberately. If you dispute part of the sum, say so here rather than signing a clean acknowledgement and arguing afterwards. Where the debt is one person’s promise to answer for ANOTHER’s debt, Law of Contract Act section 3(1) is in point: no suit may be brought on such a promise unless it, or a memorandum of it, is in writing and signed by the party to be charged.
Section 23(3) of the Limitation of Actions Act treats a PAYMENT the same way it treats an acknowledgement: where the person liable acknowledges the claim or makes any payment in respect of it, the right of action accrues on, and not before, the date of the acknowledgement or the last payment. So every instalment paid under clause 4 restarts the six-year period again from that payment. 🔴 Note the proviso: paying part of the rent or interest then due does not extend the period for claiming the rest then due — but a payment of interest is treated as a payment in respect of the principal debt.
🔴 This is the clause that does the work, and it cuts both ways. Section 4(1)(a) of the Limitation of Actions Act bars an action founded on contract after six years from the date the cause of action accrued. Section 23(3) provides that where a right of action has accrued to recover a debt or other liquidated pecuniary claim and the person liable acknowledges the claim or makes a payment in respect of it, the right accrues on and not before the date of that acknowledgement or last payment. Section 24(1) requires every such acknowledgement to be in writing and signed by the person making it. 🔴 If you are the debtor, understand what you are signing: a debt that may be close to time-barred becomes enforceable for a further six years from today. If you are the creditor, understand the limit of it: an acknowledgement cannot revive a claim for anything the Act does not treat this way, and taking one is not a substitute for suing in time.
Section 24(1) of the Limitation of Actions Act requires the acknowledgement to be in writing and signed by the person making it — the debtor. The creditor’s signature is not required by the Act and is here only to record receipt. A witness is likewise not required by the Act, but an acknowledgement whose signature is later denied is worth little, and a witness is the cheapest answer to that.
The provisions, in the Act’s own words
Spacing is normalised for reading. Every word is the Act’s.
(1) Every acknowledgement of the kind mentioned in section 23 of this Act must be in writing and signed by the person making it. (2) The acknowledgement or payment mentioned in section 23 of this Act is one made to the person, or to an agent of the person, whose title or claim is being acknowledged, or in respect of whose claim the payment is being made
No suit shall be brought whereby to charge the defendant upon any special promise to answer for the debt, default or miscarriages of another person unless the agreement upon which such suit is brought, or some memorandum or note thereof, is in writing and signed by the party to be charged therewith or some other person thereunto by him lawfully authorized.
Where a right of action has accrued to recover a debt or other liquidated pecuniary claim … and the person liable or accountable therefor acknowledges the claim or makes any payment in respect of it, the right accrues on and not before the date of the acknowledgement or the last payment: Provided that a payment of a part of the rent or interest due at any time does not extend the period for claiming the remainder then due, but a payment of interest is treated as a payment in respect of the principal debt.
The following actions may not be brought after the end of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued— (a) actions founded on contract