Guide
Recovering money from Poland when you live an ocean away
Where to start, whether the claim is still alive, what a formal demand actually achieves, and at which point the money comes back.
In this guide
Money claims look different from abroad than they do from Poland. You call, you email, the debtor promises and then stops answering, and the sense of helplessness comes from the distance: it is hard to press someone who is eight hours and five thousand miles away. The practical truth, though, is that from the moment a law firm in Poland takes the file, distance stops mattering - what counts is whether the claim is documented and whether the debtor has assets.
Key points
- Before doing anything, check two things: whether the claim can be proved with documents, and whether the debtor has anything to pay with.
- Claims become time-barred. Once the period runs out, the debtor can refuse to pay and a court will uphold that refusal.
- A formal demand from a law firm ends a good share of cases - it is often the first sign that the matter will not simply go away.
- What you file in court is not so much a claim as evidence: the contract, invoices, transfer confirmations, correspondence.
- A judgment is not the finish line. Money comes back only after enforcement, which is carried out by a bailiff.
Where do you start, and is the claim worth pursuing?
We always begin with the same two questions, because they decide whether the case makes sense at all. First: can the claim be evidenced? A written contract, an invoice, a transfer confirmation, a signed delivery note, correspondence in which the debt is acknowledged - those are evidence. Oral arrangements, however truthful, are far weaker material and raise the risk of losing.
The second question matters even more: does the debtor have anything to pay with? A judgment against someone with no assets and no income is an expensive piece of paper. So before a case goes to court we check what can be established about the debtor's position - whether they run a business, whether they appear as an owner in the land register, whether insolvency proceedings are under way. Sometimes the honest answer is "not worth it," and it is far better to hear that at the start than after two years.
Has your claim become time-barred?
The passage of time after which a debtor can validly refuse to pay by relying on that lapse alone. The claim still exists, but it becomes unenforceable. The periods depend on the type of claim - they differ between business debts and a loan between private individuals - and the running of a period can be interrupted, for instance by an acknowledgment of the debt or by filing suit.
This is the first thing we check once documents arrive, and the most common reason we tell a client not to wait. The period runs from when the claim fell due - usually the day payment was supposed to be made, not the day you gave up hope of being paid voluntarily. The exact lengths and the events that interrupt them are assessed case by case, because getting this wrong costs the entire claim.
What does a formal demand actually achieve?
More than people expect. A debtor who has ignored emails from abroad for a year receives a letter from a Polish law firm, with a specific amount, a deadline, and notice that the matter will go to court. For many people that is the point at which the debt stops being abstract. A significant share of cases end right here - with payment, or with a settlement in installments, and no court costs for either side.
The demand also has a procedural function: it puts the case in order before any claim is filed and documents that the debtor was called upon to pay. If the reply acknowledges the debt or asks for installments, that reply is often valuable evidence.
We always put settlements in writing. An oral "I'll pay by the end of the year" is worth nothing. A written settlement with a schedule and stated consequences for missed payments gives a basis for acting quickly when payments stop.
What does a court case look like?
Proceedings start with a statement of claim setting out the amount, the basis of the demand, and the evidence. Where a claim is well documented, it may be dealt with in a simplified procedure, without a hearing, on the documents alone - which is quicker and cheaper. If the debtor objects, the case moves into the ordinary track, with hearings and testimony.
Costs include the court fee on the claim, which depends on the amount pursued, and the cost of any expert opinion. The losing party normally reimburses the winner's costs to the extent the rules allow - not always the full amount actually spent, but a substantial part of it.
What does a court enforcement officer do, and when does the money arrive?
A final judgment still needs an enforceability clause before it becomes an enforceable title - the document a bailiff acts on. The enforcement application specifies what enforcement should target: a bank account, wages, real estate, movable property.
The pace depends mainly on whether there is anything to enforce against. Attaching a bank account can produce results in weeks; enforcement against real estate is a months-long process ending in an auction. Our role at this stage is supervision: pointing the bailiff to further assets, reacting to inactivity, and keeping you informed, because a bailiff does not correspond with a creditor abroad the way a creditor abroad would expect.
A client in Florida lent a cousin in Poland a substantial sum for renovation work, holding nothing but a transfer confirmation marked "loan" and some text messages. The demand for payment went unanswered, but on a phone call the cousin acknowledged the debt - and then repeated it in writing while asking for installments. That letter became the principal evidence in the case, and at the same time interrupted the limitation period.
What can we handle without you traveling?
All of it. A lawyer sends the demand, negotiates, files the claim, represents you at hearings, obtains the enforceability clause, and files with the bailiff. Your part comes down to sending documents and signing a power of attorney - and in document-based cases your own testimony is often not needed at all.
It is worth sending everything at once, including material that looks unimportant: screenshots of conversations, voice messages, old emails. In loans between relatives and friends that is usually all the evidence there is - and it is enough surprisingly often.
This article is general information about how the process works in Poland. It is not legal advice for your particular matter - the right approach depends on your documents and circumstances, so it is worth discussing your situation individually before you decide anything.
