Compensating library items and paying the fees
You must compensate for the lost or damaged item by paying the compensation charge ordered by the owner of the item, the city library in question. In case you wish to compensate for the item with a corresponding work, you must agree with the library case-specifically. A videocassette, DVD, and CD-ROM must be compensated for by paying the compensation fee ordered by the owner of the recording, the city library in question. The library will not return the compensation fee you have paid even if you later find the item you have paid the compensation fee for.
The compensation fee for the item must be paid to the city library that owns the item in question.
You can pay the other fees (excluding collection) to any of the metropolitan city libraries. The library will not return fees you have paid.
Collection
Espoo, Helsinki, and Kauniainen City Libraries transfer their outstanding fees to be collected by the collection office Lindorff Oy and Vantaa City Library to the collection office Intrum Justitia Oy approximately 60 days after the due date. The collection concerns also items borrowed by a person under 18 years of age. A customer aged 15 years or more is responsible for the works he/she has borrowed with his/her library card. The guarantor is responsible for the items that have been borrowed with the library card of a person younger than 15 years of age. The collection office invoices city-specific compensation fees, overdue fees, handling charges, its own collection fees and the legal penalty interest for the item. Fees concerning items in the collection phase must be paid in accordance with the city-specific practice.
Partly damaged items
If the item or material is only partly damaged and can be repaired, the library will charge only a part replacement fee, which is defined by the library where the item is returned.
All fees and charges can be payed in installments.
The installment contract
All fees and charges can be payed in installments. However it is advisable to pay for a single item, such as a lost or damaged book, in one go.
When an installment contract is established, a schedule of payment dates and amounts is drawn up. The customer will be able to borrow items from the library during this period, but no additional charges or fees will be allowed.
If the customer does not follow the contract, it will be dismissed and the procedures and receivables will be assigned to the collection agency Lindorff.
Unpaid library charges may affect credit ratings.
You will lose the right to borrow
- if you have not returned the items you have borrowed and 28 days have passed since the loan period ended
- if you have lost or damaged the material of the library
- you fail to pay your penalties when they have amounted to or exceeded the sum indicated in the payments attachment
If the library has outstanding fees from a borrower who has started the process of a loan arrangement, no actions toward the debtor may be taken to collect debts belonging to the freezing of payments or to secure the payment. Already started actions may not be continued. In the case of a debt like this, the debtor may not be targeted by the loss of borrowing rights due to a delay in payment.
You will regain your borrowing rights
- by returning the items that are late
- by compensating for lost or damaged items
- by paying accumulated fees
If you do not pay the fee at the library, the returning of the borrowing rights can take about a week. The borrowing rights are returned only after the library has dealt with the payments in its own bookkeeping. If the payment has been transferred to a collection office the borrowing rights are returned only after the collection office has made the payment to the library’s account and the library has checked the payment.