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CLIENT NOT PAYING YOUR INVOICE
The due date passed and the money never showed up. We know how that feels — checking your account every hour, unsure whether to call or wait. Below is a ready-made action plan for the next 10 minutes: what to write, when interest kicks in, and when the case moves to debt collection.
Start for freeEvery step has its moment. Escalate too early and you damage the relationship; too late and it costs you money. Stick to this timeline.
Day 1–3
First, confirm the invoice actually reached the right person and that the details are correct — a wrong account number or due date is a common, innocent cause of delay. If everything checks out, send one polite reminder email. Most delays come from forgetfulness or an internal approval process on the client's side, not bad faith — keep the tone factual, not accusatory.
Day 7
No response after a week is a sign to be more specific. The second reminder should be firm but still calm — state the exact amount owed and mention that statutory interest for late payment in commercial transactions applies from the day after the due date. That's not a threat, it's a fact the client should know.
Day 14
Two weeks of silence after the due date is the point for the first document with real legal weight. A payment demand states the exact principal owed, accrued interest, and sets a short, final deadline. You can attach an interest note and claim compensation for recovery costs — 40, 70, or 100 euro, depending on the transaction value, under Poland's Late Payments in Commercial Transactions Act.
Day 30+
If the demand letter doesn't work, hand the case to amicable debt collection — it's still a conversation, not litigation, but run by someone who does this daily and has the time for it. It's also worth checking Poland's debtor registries at this stage — a persistent non-payer can be listed there, which is often motivation enough on its own. Court proceedings (including Poland's electronic writ-of-payment procedure, EPU) should come last — slower and costlier, worth it mainly for large amounts and a debtor who has gone completely silent.
Every day of delay is a concrete number, not just frustration. Here's the math.
Invoice amount
PLN 10,000
Days late
60 days
Rate
13.75%
statutory interest for late payment in B2B commercial transactions
Formula
PLN 10,000 × 13.75% ÷ 365 × 60 days
PLN 226.03
in interest
EUR 70
recovery-cost compensation — an invoice above PLN 5,000 qualifies for the EUR 70 tier, not EUR 40
That's PLN 226.03 in interest plus EUR 70 in compensation — money you're entitled to by law, whether or not you ask for it. You don't need to negotiate it. You need to calculate it.
Staying silent isn't neutral — to the debtor, it signals the invoice isn't a priority. The longer you delay the first reminder, the easier it is for them to push payment further back.
Mentioning court in the first email after a single day of delay backfires — it reads as overreaction and damages a relationship you may still need.
Debt collection and litigation cost time and money. Most invoices get paid at the reminder or demand-letter stage — save the heavier tools for when they're genuinely needed.
A reminder on Monday, then nothing for three weeks, with no consistent tone — it reads as a lack of control over your own receivables. Stick to one predictable schedule.
Steps 1–3 of the plan above can run on their own, so you don't have to remember any single invoice. Terminovo sends email and SMS reminders on a set schedule, escalating in tone from polite to firm, and logs every contact with the client. Statutory interest calculation and payment demand generation are built into the system, so nothing gets calculated by hand. Start free, no card required.
Start by checking the invoice reached the right person, then send a polite reminder. If nothing changes after a week, send a second reminder mentioning interest. After two weeks of silence, move to a formal payment demand with an interest note and compensation claim. Only if that fails should you consider amicable debt collection or court.
For B2B commercial transactions, Poland's statutory interest for late payment currently stands at 13.75% per year. If the debtor is a consumer, the lower civil-law statutory interest rate applies — 9.25% per year. Interest accrues from the day after the due date until the day of payment.
Usually after two reminders with no response — typically around day 14 past the due date. A payment demand is the first document in this process with real legal weight, and it sets a final deadline for the debtor before further escalation.
Yes — in B2B commercial transactions, compensation for recovery costs is owed by law, without having to prove any costs were incurred. The amount depends on the transaction value: EUR 40 up to PLN 5,000, EUR 70 for invoices between PLN 5,001 and 50,000, and EUR 100 above that.
Once a payment demand has gone unanswered and the debtor is silent or refuses to pay without justification. Amicable debt collection makes sense as a middle step — it's still a conversation, not litigation. Save court, including the electronic writ-of-payment procedure, for large amounts and a debtor who has gone completely unresponsive.
Keep one predictable tone at every stage — factual, not accusatory, with a clear amount and deadline stated. Escalate gradually rather than jumping straight to threats, and avoid chaotic, irregular follow-ups — those, not firmness, are what actually damage a client relationship.
Terminovo sends reminders automatically, calculates interest, and generates demand letters for you. Start free, no credit card required.
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