88 percent of companies in Poland receive delayed payments from their business partners. This sometimes results from recession in the market, but sometimes the crisis is merely an excuse for delaying or even refusing payment.
The very popular excuse among business debtors is “I haven’t paid, because another contractor did not pay me”. This way, debtors feel “absolved”, as “it is not their fault after all”. Also, they often avoid giving precise answer as to when they would settle their debts – explaining they “do not know when they would receive money from their debtors”.
One way to avoid or delay paying bills, used by debtors is to plead that the amount in the invoice is incorrect. This way debtors transfer responsibility for overdue invoices to the creditor, claiming they would pay “provided the creditor issues the invoice properly”.
Among debtors who are late with payments, there is a group who intentionally pays late, waiting for the reminder. This group consists of debtors who have financial means and are able to pay on time, but choose not to for two reasons: by turning the money, they can gain additional financial advantages, and they expect the creditor to send them a reminder to make the payment.
Sometimes the debtor intentionally avoids payment and gets rid of their assets, which might be subject to enforcement. Such conduct is not only unlawful in terms of the civil code, but a criminal offence as well. For the creditor, however, the major issue is to recover the debt. One way of doing that might be fraudulent transfer (art. 527 of the Civil Code). According to it, if the debtor has made a legal action, e.g. a donation detrimental to the creditor and a third party gained financial benefit this way, each of the creditors may demand recognizing such action as ineffectual towards them.
