In Connecticut, an accord is a contract between creditor and debtor for the settlement of claim by some performance other than that which is due.[i]  Satisfaction takes place when the accord is executed.  The discharge of a debt by accord and satisfaction occurs when a debtor renders performance different from that is allegedly due, and the creditor accepts the substituted performance in full satisfaction of the disputed claim.  The parties must agree that the transaction constitutes an accord and satisfaction, and the defendant’s performance must constitute sufficient consideration for a discharge, in order to have an accord and satisfaction.  Furthermore, the defense of accord requires that the defendant allege and prove a new agreement with new considerations.  If a contract of accord and satisfaction settles a monetary claim and is unliquidated in amount, it is sufficiently supported by consideration.  Moreover, a meeting of the minds between the parties is required.

In Munroe v. Emhart Corp[ii] the court held that to prove an accord and satisfaction, the defendant must show that at the time of the agreement there was a good faith dispute over the existence of a debt or over an amount owed, and that the debtor and the creditor negotiated a contract of accord to settle the claim.  The proponent must be able to show that the offer by the debtor was clearly tendered as full satisfaction of the debt, and that the payment was knowingly accepted.

[i] Fireman’s Fund Ins. Co. v. State, 1996 Conn. Super. LEXIS 1467 (Conn. Super. Ct. June 4, 1996)

[ii] Munroe v. Emhart Corp., 46 Conn. App. 37 (Conn. App. Ct. 1997)