Filing a Claim in Poland – What Foreign Creditors Must Do When a Polish Customer Goes Bankrupt

The deadline: 30 days from the announcement

Claims must be filed with the bankruptcy trustee (syndyk) within 30 days of the announcement of the bankruptcy decision in the KRZ. Filing is generally done electronically via the KRZ.

Late filing is still possible but comes with disadvantages: the creditor pays a flat fee (15% of the average monthly salary in the Polish enterprise sector), even if the delay was not its fault; steps already taken in the proceedings remain effective against it, and its claim is included only in distribution plans prepared after the claim has been recognised. A claim filed after the final distribution plan has been approved is not examined at all.

Contents of the claim filing

• details of the creditor and, where applicable, its representative,
• the principal claim and ancillary claims (interest up to the day before the bankruptcy declaration, costs),
• the category (ranking) in which the claim should be satisfied,
• evidence (contract, invoices, delivery notes, titles),
• security (e.g. pledge, retention of title),
• status of any court proceedings,
• bank details.

Language: Under the EU Insolvency Regulation, creditors from other member states may use a standard form and file in another official EU language. The trustee may, however, require a Polish translation. In practice, a Polish filing with translated exhibits is the safest route.

After filing: the list of claims and objections

The trustee examines the claims and prepares a list of claims. If your claim is rejected in whole or in part, or placed in the wrong category, you can file an objection (sprzeciw) with the judge-commissioner within two weeks of the announcement of the list. You can also object to other creditors' claims that would reduce your dividend.

Ranking of claims

Polish bankruptcy law provides for several categories. Trade creditors' claims typically fall into category II, and interest and ancillary claims partly into lower categories. Shareholder loans and similar transactions, expressly including deliveries of goods on deferred payment terms, made to a capital company in the five years before bankruptcy are subordinated (category IV). Exceptions apply, e.g. to shareholders with less than 10% of the votes who neither sit on the company's bodies nor run its affairs, and to financing provided during restructuring proceedings. Secured creditors are satisfied first from the proceeds of their collateral.

Other rights of foreign creditors

• segregation (exclusion from the estate) of goods under a retention of title that is effective against the buyer's creditors (→ Retention of title in Poland),
• set-off against counterclaims where both claims existed on the date of the bankruptcy declaration. The set-off must be declared no later than with the claim filing; otherwise the creditor is only paid pro rata with the other creditors,
• participation in the creditors' committee (rada wierzycieli),
• purchase of assets from the estate, including in a pre-pack sale.