Sjekk dekningen i tilfelle utbetalingen blir forsinket.

Sjekk is the imperative form of å sjekke, so it means check as a command or instruction.

In Norwegian, the imperative is often just the verb stem:

• å sjekke → Sjekk
• å vente → Vent
• å lese → Les

The subject is normally left out, so Sjekk dekningen naturally means Check the coverage / check the funds rather than You check....

The noun dekning has a broad meaning: coverage, cover, or sufficient backing.

Depending on context, it can refer to things like:

• insurance coverage
• network coverage
• financial cover / sufficient funds

In this sentence, it most likely means the available cover/funds or the relevant coverage already known from context.

The ending -en makes it definite, so dekningen means the coverage or the cover, not just coverage in general.

Because both nouns are in the definite singular form:

• en dekning / dekning → dekningen
• en utbetaling / utbetaling → utbetalingen

So the sentence is talking about the specific coverage and the specific payment/disbursement, not just any coverage or any payment.

A learner may also notice that words ending in -ing are often feminine in Norwegian, but in Bokmål many feminine nouns can also take the definite ending -en, so utbetalingen is completely normal.

Betaling is the more general word for payment.

Utbetaling is more specific and means a payment out, payout, or disbursement. It is often used when money is being paid out by a company, bank, insurer, government office, and so on.

So utbetalingen sounds more like:

• a payout
• a transfer being issued
• money that is due to be paid out

rather than just any ordinary payment.

I tilfelle means in case.

It often implies a precaution: do something now because something might happen later.

So:

• Sjekk dekningen i tilfelle utbetalingen blir forsinket.
  = Check the coverage/funds in case the payout is delayed.

This is slightly different from hvis, which usually means if in a more neutral conditional sense.

Very roughly:

• i tilfelle = as a precaution
• hvis = if, on the condition that

In many real-life situations the two can seem close, but i tilfelle is the more natural choice when you mean prepare for the possibility that...

Because Norwegian does not need it here.

I tilfelle can directly introduce a clause:

• i tilfelle utbetalingen blir forsinket

This is normal and idiomatic.

You may sometimes see i tilfelle at, but in many sentences it sounds heavier or less natural than simply using i tilfelle by itself.

This is a very common Norwegian pattern:

• bli
  • past participle

Here:

• blir = present tense of å bli
• forsinket = delayed

So blir forsinket means gets delayed or is delayed.

It is often called the bli-passive, and it focuses on what happens to something rather than on who causes it.

Compare:

• De forsinker utbetalingen. = They delay the payout.
• Utbetalingen blir forsinket. = The payout gets/is delayed.

Yes, but the nuance changes slightly.

• blir forsinket = gets delayed / is delayed
  This emphasizes the event or process.
• er forsinket = is delayed
  This describes the state or situation.

In many contexts, both are possible. But blir forsinket often feels more natural when talking about something that may happen in the future:

• i tilfelle utbetalingen blir forsinket

That sounds like in case the payout ends up being delayed.

Because after i tilfelle, you have a subordinate clause, and subordinate clauses normally keep subject + verb order in Norwegian.

So you get:

• i tilfelle utbetalingen blir forsinket

not:

• i tilfelle blir utbetalingen forsinket

This is different from Norwegian main-clause word order, where the finite verb often comes in second position.

So this sentence is a useful example of the contrast:

• Main clause: Utbetalingen blir forsinket.
• Subordinate clause: ... i tilfelle utbetalingen blir forsinket.

Usually, Sjekk dekningen is better here because it refers to a specific, known coverage/fund situation.

If you say Sjekk dekning, it sounds more general or less complete, a bit like saying check coverage in a very broad or headline-like way.

So in a normal full sentence, dekningen is the natural choice.