Old foreign debt falls into three buckets: still fresh, aged-but-alive, or time-barred. Before anything else, identify the governing law, check its limitation clock, and test whether any act has interrupted or suspended it.
KEY INSIGHT
Old foreign debt falls into three buckets: still fresh, aged-but-alive, or time-barred. Before anything else, identify the governing law, check its limitation clock, and test whether any act has interrupted or suspended it.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| First triage question | Which limitation law governs the contract, and how much time is left on the clock |
| Fastest free check | Commercial register lookup in the debtor's country |
| Shortest common limitation | Canada (2 years most common-law provinces), Germany / Poland / China (3 years) |
| Longest common limitation | Italy, Switzerland, Mexico commercial (10 years) |
| CISG trap | The 1974/1980 Limitation Convention imposes 4 years between Contracting States |
| Clock reset trigger | Written acknowledgment by debtor, formal legal demand (jurisdiction-dependent) |
| Category 1: fresh | Under 12 months. Standard amicable and legal escalation |
| Category 2: aged-but-alive | 12 to 36 months. Higher contingency, skip tracing likely |
| Category 3: dying or dead | Approaching or past limitation. Preserve rights now or close the file |
Shortest common limitation
2–3 years
Canada 2 years (most provinces); Germany / Poland / China 3 years
Longest common limitation
10 years
Italy, Switzerland, Mexico commercial
CISG Limitation Convention
4 years
Applies to cross-border sale of goods between Contracting States
Step one: figure out which law runs the clock
The limitation period that matters is almost never "the one you assumed". A German supplier selling to a French buyer on English law general conditions is running three possible clocks. The contract's governing-law clause decides. If there is no clause, Rome I Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 Art. 4 applies to most European contracts and points to the habitual residence of the characteristic performer, usually the seller. Two exceptions override everything: 1. The 1974/1980 UNCITRAL Convention on the Limitation Period in the International Sale of Goods imposes a uniform 4-year limitation on cross-border sales of goods between Contracting States. The United States is a party. Most EU Member States are not. This is the clause that catches creditors who assumed their home law applied. 2. Public-order limitation rules in the debtor's forum can restrict what a foreign judgment will enforce, even if the underlying contract law is friendlier. If the deal is goods and either party sits in a Limitation Convention Contracting State, check the Convention before you cite a longer national period. It can quietly kill a claim you thought had three more years.Limitation periods for commercial claims, by jurisdiction
This table is the creditor-side version of the one most legal briefings bury in a footnote. It is not exhaustive, and it is not legal advice, but it is a working triage grid. Always confirm with local counsel before relying on it.| Jurisdiction | General commercial limitation | Key statute | Clock-reset rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 3 years from end of calendar year claim arose | BGB §§ 195, 199 | Acknowledgment restarts (§ 212); negotiations suspend (§ 203) |
| Poland | 3 years from end of calendar year (since 2018 reform) | Kodeks cywilny Art. 118 | Acknowledgment or legal act interrupts (Art. 123) |
| China | 3 years from knowledge of infringement | PRC Civil Code Art. 188 (2020) | Demand or acknowledgment interrupts |
| France | 5 years from knowledge | Code civil Art. 2224 | Acknowledgment restarts; formal demand interrupts |
| Spain | 5 years (since 2015 reform, previously 15) | Código Civil Art. 1964 | Extrajudicial claim interrupts (Art. 1973) |
| Netherlands | 5 years | BW Art. 3:307 | Written demand interrupts (Art. 3:317) |
| UAE | 5 years (since 2023) | Federal Decree-Law 50/2022 | Acknowledgment or judicial claim interrupts |
| Japan | 5 years from knowledge or 10 from accrual, whichever first | Civil Code Art. 166 (2020 reform) | Demand, acknowledgment, attachment interrupt |
| United Kingdom | 6 years from accrual (12 for deeds) | Limitation Act 1980 s. 5 | Written acknowledgment or part payment restarts (s. 29) |
| Ireland | 6 years | Statute of Limitations 1957 s. 11(1)(a) | Acknowledgment in writing resets |
| Hong Kong | 6 years | Limitation Ordinance Cap. 347 s. 4(1)(a) | Written acknowledgment or part payment resets |
| Australia | 6 years in most states | State Limitation Acts | Acknowledgment or part payment resets |
| Israel | 7 years | Prescription Law 5718-1958 | Acknowledgment, part payment, or claim filing resets |
| Italy | 10 years general | Codice civile Art. 2946 | Formal demand interrupts (Art. 2943) |
| Switzerland | 10 years general | OR/CO Art. 127 | Acknowledgment or debt enforcement interrupts (Art. 135) |
| Mexico | 10 years commercial | Código de Comercio Art. 1047 | Judicial demand or acknowledgment interrupts |
| Brazil | 10 years general civil; 5 years specific commercial | Código Civil Art. 205, Art. 206 | Judicial citation, protest, acknowledgment interrupt |
| Canada | 2 years (most common-law provinces); 3 years (Quebec) | Provincial Acts; CCQ Art. 2925 | Acknowledgment resets (provincial variation) |
Interruption versus suspension: why the distinction matters
Civil-law systems treat the clock two different ways. Interruption means the clock resets to zero. A fresh period begins from the interrupting event. In Germany, a formal written acknowledgment under BGB § 212 resets the full 3-year period. In Italy, a messa in mora under Art. 2943 c.c. does the same. Suspension means the clock pauses and resumes where it stopped. Negotiations in Germany suspend the clock under BGB § 203. The period is not lost, but it is not wound back either. Common-law systems are stricter. In the United Kingdom, Limitation Act 1980 s. 29 allows a written acknowledgment or a part payment to reset the period, but only if made before expiry. Once the clock runs out, no acknowledgment can revive the claim. Confusing the two rules is how creditors waste eighteen months chasing a claim that legally ceased to exist in month six.Can a foreign debt be collected in the UK?
Yes. A foreign creditor can pursue a debtor based in the United Kingdom either by instructing a UK-regulated collection firm, by issuing a Letter Before Action and filing in the county court under CPR Part 7, or by registering a foreign judgment for enforcement. Post-Brexit, EU judgments no longer benefit from Brussels I Recast automatic recognition, so most non-UK judgments now go through the 1933 Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act or common-law recognition.Can a company chase a debt from 20 years ago?
Almost never. Twenty years exceeds every general commercial limitation period on the table above except in very narrow cases: an Italian or Swiss claim that was repeatedly interrupted by formal demands, a UK deed under a 12-year period that was also interrupted, or a debt secured by a mortgage with its own statutory regime. In practice, a 20-year-old unsecured commercial invoice with no intervening acknowledgment is legally dead in every jurisdiction a B2B creditor is likely to operate in.What is the 7 7 7 rule for collections?
The 7/7/7 rule is a US consumer-debt concept (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act context) suggesting a collector may contact a debtor no more than 7 times in 7 days about the same 7-digit account. It does not apply to B2B cross-border collection between two companies, where the FDCPA is out of scope entirely and contact-cadence rules are governed by the debtor's country consumer and commercial codes. For corporate debtors in Germany, France, Spain, or Italy, no such hard numeric cap exists, but harassment standards under each civil code still apply.The three-category triage
| Category | Age range | Operational response | Typical contingency |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Fresh | Under 12 months | Standard amicable demand, structured escalation, legal filing if ignored | 15 to 22 percent |
| 2. Aged but alive | 12 to 36 months | Register check, skip tracing, document reconstitution, interruption act if clock near | 22 to 30 percent |
| 3. Dying or dead | Approaching or past limitation | Immediate preservation filing where possible, or closure with honest write-off advice | 30 to 40 percent on the live ones; declined on the dead |
Category 1
Under 12 months
Standard amicable + legal escalation • Typical contingency 15–22%
Category 2
12–36 months
Register check, skip tracing, interruption act • Typical contingency 22–30%
Category 3
Near/past limit
Preserve rights now or close • Typical contingency 30–40% if live
The foreign-specific complications nobody warns creditors about
Aged foreign files fail for reasons that have nothing to do with limitation. - The debtor was struck off the commercial register. In Germany, a GmbH can be dissolved and removed under HGB § 394. In the United Kingdom, a company can be struck off under Companies Act 2006 s. 1000. Once the entity is gone, a claim against it is a claim against air. Restoration is possible in both jurisdictions, but it costs and it takes months. - The debtor was sold or merged. The legal successor may or may not have assumed the liability. Asset deals typically leave old debts behind. Share deals carry them forward. The sale-purchase agreement governs, and you will not see it. - Contact persons left. The CFO who acknowledged the debt in an email chain two years ago now works elsewhere. The person you are emailing today may not know the file exists. - The currency moved. An invoice booked in Turkish lira in 2022 may have lost 60 percent of its EUR value by the time it comes to court. Some jurisdictions allow judgment in the foreign currency; others force conversion at the judgment date, which can crystallize a loss. - The CISG Limitation Convention trap. A US seller who chased a Czech buyer under a six-year assumed limitation discovered too late that the 1974 Convention's four-year period controlled. The claim was dead when they filed.Information-gain section: the 1974 Limitation Convention
Most creditor guides simply cite the CISG itself and assume local law handles the clock. It does not, if both parties sit in Contracting States to the 1974 UNCITRAL Convention on the Limitation Period in the International Sale of Goods, as amended by the 1980 Protocol. The Convention imposes a default 4-year limitation running from the date the claim accrues, with specific rules for installments and breach by non-performance. The United States acceded in 1994. Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, and several Latin American states are also parties. A US exporter selling to a Polish importer on a US-law contract has a 4-year limitation, not the UCC's 4-year default nor Poland's 3-year period. It is the overlap that matters.Can an international company send you to collections?
Yes. A foreign creditor can instruct a collection firm licensed in the debtor's country, and that firm can pursue the debt through amicable and legal routes governed by local law. There is no rule that a creditor must be domiciled in the country to collect there. What matters is that the firm handling the file is licensed and compliant in the debtor's jurisdiction.
This briefing is not appropriate if:
- The debt is time-barred under the governing law with no interruption events on file. We will tell you honestly that the file is dead. No collection firm can revive a claim that has legally ceased to exist.
- The debtor has been struck off and you do not wish to fund restoration proceedings. The underlying company must exist before anything else can happen.
- The claim is a consumer debt. InterStation operates on B2B commercial claims only. Consumer regulation is a different discipline with different operators.
- You are unwilling to produce the invoice chain, contract, and delivery proof. Aged claims live and die on documentation, and missing evidence cannot be conjured after the fact.
How InterStation Handles an Aged Foreign Collection File
1. Limitation audit. We identify the governing law, locate the applicable statute, and map every act on the file against the interruption and suspension rules. If the Limitation Convention applies, we flag it immediately. The output is a single page stating how many days remain and what must happen before expiry. 2. Commercial register and status check. We pull the current register entry in the debtor's country, confirm the legal entity still exists, identify any name change, merger, or insolvency filing, and update contact data through cross-border [skip tracing](/blog/interstation-skip-tracing-cross-border) where the trail has gone cold. 3. Document reconstitution. We rebuild the invoice chain, contract, delivery confirmation, and any acknowledgment correspondence into an evidentiary pack that will survive a foreign court's scrutiny. 4. Interruption act, if the clock is near. Where local law allows, we dispatch a formal legal demand that interrupts or restarts the limitation period before expiry. This is the single most valuable action on a dying file, and it is often the difference between collection and closure. 5. Calibrated escalation. Amicable first, structured legal second. We pursue [amicable collection](/operations/amicable-collection) until it is clearly exhausted, then [legal escalation](/operations/legal-escalation) through local counsel, with [international commercial collection](/operations/commercial-debt-collection) operating as the bridging framework.Process
5 steps
Audit • Register check • Docs • Interruption act • Escalation
Triage cost
0
No charge for the triage itself
Clock report
Days remaining
One-page output with deadline and required actions
FAQ
Can a foreign debt be collected in the UK?
Yes. A foreign creditor can pursue a UK-based debtor through a UK-regulated collection firm, directly via the county court under CPR Part 7, or by registering a foreign judgment for enforcement under the 1933 Act or common-law recognition post-Brexit.
Can a company chase a debt from 20 years ago?
Almost never. Twenty years exceeds every general commercial limitation on our triage table except narrow cases involving repeatedly interrupted Italian or Swiss claims, UK deeds under the 12-year rule, or mortgage-secured debts. A plain 20-year-old invoice is legally dead in practice.
What is the 7 7 7 rule for collections?
A US consumer-debt guideline derived from FDCPA interpretation, suggesting no more than 7 contact attempts in 7 days on the same account. It does not apply to cross-border B2B collection, where the debtor's country rules govern contact cadence.
Can an international company send you to collections?
Yes. A foreign creditor can instruct a collection firm licensed in the debtor's country. The firm pursues the claim through amicable and legal routes under local law. Domicile of the creditor is not a barrier.
Can a company chase a debt from 20 years ago?
Usually not. Most jurisdictions impose a commercial limitation between three and ten years from accrual. Italy’s ten-year limitation under Art. 2946 of the Codice Civile and Mexico’s ten-year rule under Art. 1047 of the Código de Comercio are outliers. Germany and Poland cap commercial claims at three years, Canada most common-law provinces at two years.
How long can you legally be chased for a debt?
Between two and ten years for most commercial obligations, depending on jurisdiction and instrument. A formal written demand interrupts or suspends the limitation clock in most civil-law systems. Creditors should always check the specific rules of the debtor’s country before treating a debt as time-barred.
How long before a debt cannot be collected?
It depends entirely on the applicable jurisdiction. Canada runs two years in most common-law provinces. Germany and Poland run three years. France, Spain and the Netherlands run five years. UK, Ireland and Australia run six years. Italy, Switzerland and Mexico run ten years. UAE moved to five years under Federal Decree-Law 50/2022 effective January 2023.
Talk to InterStation about an aged foreign file
If you are holding an invoice that is 18, 24, or 34 months old and you cannot confidently state the governing law, the applicable limitation, and whether any event has reset or suspended the clock, we will audit the file and tell you honestly whether it is collectable or closed. No false hope, no padded contingency, no charge for the triage itself. [Contact Us, Free Review](/contact).Sources and Legal References
1. German Civil Code (BGB) §§ 195, 199, 203, 212 — https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/
2. Polish Civil Code (Kodeks cywilny) Art. 118, 123 — https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/
3. French Code civil Art. 2224 — https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/
4. Spanish Código Civil Art. 1964, 1973 — https://www.boe.es/
5. Dutch Burgerlijk Wetboek Art. 3:307, 3:317 — https://wetten.overheid.nl/
6. UK Limitation Act 1980 — https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/58
7. Irish Statute of Limitations 1957 — https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/
8. Hong Kong Limitation Ordinance Cap. 347 — https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/
9. Italian Codice civile Art. 2943, 2946 — https://www.normattiva.it/
10. Swiss Code of Obligations Art. 127, 135 — https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/
11. Mexican Código de Comercio Art. 1047 — https://www.diputados.gob.mx/
12. Brazilian Código Civil Art. 205, 206 — https://www.planalto.gov.br/
13. Quebec Civil Code Art. 2925 — https://www.legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/
14. UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 50 of 2022 (Commercial Transactions Law)
15. Japan Civil Code Art. 166 (2020 reform) — https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/
16. PRC Civil Code Art. 188 (2020)
17. 1974 UNCITRAL Convention on the Limitation Period in the International Sale of Goods — https://uncitral.un.org/en/texts/salegoods/conventions/limitation_period_international_sale_of_goods
18. CISG — https://uncitral.un.org/en/texts/salegoods/conventions/sale_of_goods/cisg
19. Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 (Rome I) — https://eur-lex.europa.eu/
20. UK Companies Act 2006 s. 1000 — https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/46
21. UK Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1933 — https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/23-24/13