Debt Collection in Poland for Foreign Companies

Polish commercial claims have a 3-year limitation under Article 118 of the Kodeks cywilny, and that clock runs from the end of the calendar year in which the invoice fell due. Most foreign creditors discover this rule only after it has already closed the door. Below is the operational briefing: statutes, the Lublin e-court, Brussels I Recast enforcement, and the exact sequence to get paid.

How long do you have to collect a commercial debt in Poland?

Three years. Under Article 118 of the Kodeks cywilny as amended by the 2018 Amendment Act, claims connected with business activity lapse after 3 years, but the period ends on 31 December of the final year. An invoice due 15 March 2024 lapses on 31 December 2027, not 15 March 2027. Foreign creditors often misread this as an extension. It is not. It is a hard ceiling with a fixed year-end edge.

The year-end rule is the single most overlooked provision in Polish commercial collection. It is also the information-gain point for this briefing. Competing pages quote "3 years" without the Art. 118 trigger, and creditors who rely on that summary file EPU applications that are dismissed on limitation grounds before they reach the merits. .

Interruption is possible. Filing with the Lublin e-court, a written acknowledgement of debt, or a mediation application interrupts the period and restarts it from zero. Informal reminders, emails without acknowledgement, and internal dunning letters do not interrupt. Silence from the debtor is never interruption.

The Lublin e-court and the EPU

Electronic writ-of-payment proceedings, known as Elektroniczne Postępowanie Upominawcze, are administered by a single court: VI Wydział Cywilny Sądu Rejonowego Lublin-Zachód w Lublinie. One e-court handles the entire country. Filings are 100% electronic through the e-sąd portal. The case must be a specific monetary claim; disputed facts or evidence-heavy matters should go through the ordinary track instead.

If the e-court accepts the application, it issues a nakaz zapłaty (payment order) against the debtor. The debtor has 2 weeks from service to file opposition. No reason is required: a simple written opposition transfers the entire case to the competent local court (Sąd Rejonowy or Sąd Okręgowy depending on claim value) for ordinary proceedings. That transfer restarts the clock on procedural timelines and reopens cost calculations.

EPU is fast when uncontested. Uncontested Lublin orders typically become enforceable within weeks rather than months. Contested ones collapse back into ordinary litigation, which is why we front-load debtor intelligence through the KRS before filing. A debtor with 40 court cases against it in KRS filings will almost certainly oppose. .

Can UK debt be enforced in Poland?

Yes, but the instrument depends on when the judgment was issued. UK judgments obtained before 31 December 2020 still circulate under Brussels I Recast. Post-Brexit UK judgments enforce under Polish international private law and, where applicable, the 2005 Hague Choice of Court Convention. Recognition requires an application to a Polish Sąd Okręgowy with certified translations and the original judgment.

EU creditors have it easier. A German, French, or Dutch judgment enforces in Poland without exequatur under Regulation (EU) 1215/2012 (Brussels I Recast). The creditor obtains a Form I certificate from the originating court, presents it to a Polish komornik (bailiff), and enforcement proceeds directly against Polish assets.

The European Order for Payment as an alternative

Poland participates in the European Order for Payment procedure under Regulation (EC) 1896/2006. A foreign creditor in another EU Member State can file Form A directly with a competent Polish court without using EPU at all. The EOP is a standard-form procedure designed for uncontested cross-border claims. If the debtor opposes, the case drops into ordinary Polish proceedings at the competent Sąd Rejonowy or Sąd Okręgowy. For creditors holding claims below PLN 100,000 and strong written contracts, the EOP often beats EPU on translation cost. For larger, document-light claims, Polish counsel typically recommends the domestic track. Our European Payment Order briefing covers the cross-border Form A mechanics in detail.

Can another country send you to collections in Poland?

Yes. A foreign creditor can engage a Polish licensed collection firm or law firm directly, or appoint a foreign firm that subcontracts through Polish correspondent counsel. Amicable collection requires no special licence for the creditor. Judicial action, however, must be conducted by a Polish advocate (adwokat) or legal counsel (radca prawny) authorised to appear before Polish courts. Debtor-side consumer protections under Polish law do not apply to B2B commercial collection; the regime for business debtors is materially lighter than for consumers.

The KRS: debtor intelligence before filing

Before any payment order, the creditor should pull the debtor's Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy (KRS) record from ems.ms.gov.pl. The free public register returns: legal form, KRS number, NIP tax ID, registered office, share capital, beneficial owners, management board, financial statements, and all registered encumbrances. It also flags ongoing insolvency and restructuring proceedings. A debtor in restrukturyzacja is untouchable through ordinary collection until the restructuring concludes or fails.

The KRS is also where you establish service address. Polish courts serve process at the KRS-registered address. If the debtor has moved without updating KRS, service by KRS address still stands. This is one of the few procedural gifts Polish civil procedure offers creditors. .

How InterStation Handles a Polish Collection File

1. Intelligence pull. KRS extraction, beneficial ownership mapping, prior litigation search, and Art. 118 limitation calculation using the year-end rule. We will not open a file that is already time-barred.
2. Amicable contact, Polish language. Pre-litigation demand in Polish from a native speaker referencing specific invoice numbers, the contractual late payment regime under the Ustawa o przeciwdziałaniu nadmiernym opóźnieniom, and statutory interest. Polish commercial debtors respond materially faster to Polish-language correspondence than to English.
3. Route selection. We select between EPU, tryb nakazowy, European Order for Payment, or direct ordinary proceedings based on claim value, documentation strength, and the KRS litigation profile of the debtor.
4. Filing and payment order. Polish counsel files the chosen instrument. For EPU, the 2-week opposition window is actively monitored. For contested matters, we transfer to the competent Sąd Rejonowy or Sąd Okręgowy without delay.
5. Enforcement by komornik. Once a payment order or judgment becomes enforceable, a Polish bailiff attaches bank accounts, receivables, vehicles, and real estate. We monitor the komornik file weekly until collection closes. Our legal escalation operations page covers komornik coordination in depth.

Frequently Asked Questions

Information-Gain Block: The Year-End Trigger

Every competing page on Polish collection mentions "3 years". Almost none explain that the clock stops on 31 December. That one rule decides whether a claim is live or dead. A creditor holding an invoice dated 2 January 2023 has until 31 December 2026. A creditor holding an invoice dated 2 January 2024 has until 31 December 2027. These two invoices, 12 months apart in due date, get almost 12 months of additional runway simply because of calendar mechanics. . The Polish bar treats this rule as self-evident; foreign creditors treat it as a trap. Our international collection intelligence hub tracks jurisdictional limitation rules across 27 EU systems for exactly this reason, and our cross-border skip tracing work directly supports Polish debtor verification through KRS corroboration.

Talk to InterStation About a Polish File

If you are holding an unpaid invoice on a Polish counterparty, the first question is not which procedure to use. It is whether Art. 118 has already foreclosed your options. We run that calculation before we ever discuss strategy, and we tell you if the file is dead. If it is live, we move to KRS intelligence and route selection within days, not weeks. Contact Us, Free Review.