Increase in consumer bankruptcy announcements in Poland in 2022

Increase in consumer bankruptcy announcements in Poland in 2022
Kalina Warda-Nypel

Kalina Warda-Nypel

Senior Associate / Attorney-at-law

In October last year, the highest result of consumer bankruptcy filings this year was recorded (1603 people). Until then, only this year, over 12,000 debtors have declared consumer bankruptcy. The decrease in the number of consumer bankruptcy declarations, which took place at the beginning of this year, was not related to the improvement of the financial situation of debtors, but to procedural changes introduced in December 2021.

What changes have been made?

The National Register of Debtors (KRZ) has been launched, in which bankruptcy applications are submitted electronically and correspondence with the court is conducted.

It was the introduction of this change that resulted in the lengthening of proceedings and a positive conclusion of cases. It was necessary to support people who were not familiar with the network and electronic signature at the initial stage of this procedure.

It is indicated that in Poland the number of consumer bankruptcy declarations will amount to an average of 1500 cases per month. This is nothing new, because at the time of opening the way to declaring consumer bankruptcy to people who with their gross negligence or intentionally contributed to their insolvency, these numbers increased significantly.

In a situation where the persons are unable to repay, but the condition of incapacity is not permanent, it is possible to conditionally write off liabilities, provided that within 5 years from the date of entry into force of the decision on conditional discharge of liabilities without establishing a repayment plan, the bankrupt or any of the creditors does not submit an application for establishing a repayment plan.

Increase in consumer bankruptcy announcements in Poland

In October, the highest result of consumer bankruptcy notifications this year was recorded (1603 people). Only this year, over 12,000 debtors have already declared consumer bankruptcy.

The decrease in the number of consumer bankruptcy declarations at the beginning of the year was not related to the improvement of the financial situation of debtors. This was related to the procedural changes introduced in December 2021

What changes have been made?

The National Register of Debtors (KRZ) has been launched. It electronically files for bankruptcy and corresponds with the court.

It was the introduction of this change that resulted in the lengthening of proceedings and a positive conclusion of cases.  It was necessary to support people who were not familiar with the network or electronic signature at the initial stage of the proceedings.

It is indicated that in Poland the number of consumer bankruptcy declarations will amount to an average of 1500 cases per month. This is nothing new. From the moment the way was opened to the declaration of bankruptcy for those who by their gross negligence or intentional contributed to insolvency, these numbers have increased.

In a situation where persons are unable to repay, but the condition of incapacity is not permanent, conditional cancellation of liabilities is possible. This is permissible provided that within 5 years from the date on which the decision on conditional redemption becomes final without establishing a repayment plan, the bankrupt or any of the creditors does not submit an application for its determination.

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Kalina Warda-Nypel

Kalina Warda-Nypel

Senior Associate / Attorney-at-law
Accounting