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Nakaz zapłaty (court payment order): what it means and what to do

By when14 days from delivery

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In short

A nakaz zapłaty is a payment order from a Polish court, issued without a hearing: the court found a creditor's claim plausible on paper and orders you to pay or to challenge it. You have 14 days from delivery to file a sprzeciw (objection) with the court named in the pouczenie (instruction sheet); the day you receive the letter does not count, and if the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or Polish public holiday the deadline moves to the next working day. If you do nothing, the order becomes final and goes to a bailiff, which is why analfabeta.pl explains such a letter in plain language and counts the deadline for you.

What this letter is

A nakaz zapłaty is a court payment order, issued without a hearing and without asking you anything: someone filed a claim saying you owe them money, and the court decided that, on paper, it looks credible. The order says: pay the stated amount with interest and costs within two weeks, or challenge it within the same two weeks.

It can come from three places:

  • a district or regional court (sąd rejonowy, sąd okręgowy) in postępowanie upominawcze, the standard summary procedure (most common),
  • a court in postępowanie nakazowe, a stricter procedure for creditors with strong documents such as a promissory note (weksel); such an order can secure the claim even before it is final,
  • the e-Sąd, the electronic court in Lublin, in elektroniczne postępowanie upominawcze (EPU). The order arrives on paper, but the case lives online, and the letter contains an access code to the file at e-sad.gov.pl.

The order comes with a copy of the claim (pozew) and a pouczenie, an instruction sheet naming your remedy, the deadline and the court to write to. Read it first.

Why people get it

The usual triggers: unpaid phone, internet or electricity bills, loan instalments (including payday loans, chwilówki), credit card debt, rent, a penalty for riding without a ticket, or an old debt sold on to a debt collection company. Sometimes it is a case from years ago, or a debt you do not recognise at all: a contract you never signed, a wrongly calculated amount.

The court does not check who is right, only whether the claim looks plausible. Your side of the story enters the case only when you object.

Deadlines: how much time you have

You have two weeks, that is 14 days from delivery, to file a sprzeciw (objection, in postępowanie upominawcze and EPU) or zarzuty (pleas, in postępowanie nakazowe). Count it like this:

  • the day you receive the letter does not count; the clock starts the next day,
  • if the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or a Polish public holiday, the deadline moves to the next working day,
  • a letter posted by registered mail at a Poczta Polska office on the last day is on time (the postmark counts); with a courier or post from abroad, do not wait until the last day.

Watch out for the awizo. Court letters come by registered mail: if the postman does not find you, he leaves an awizo (collection slip) and the letter waits at the post office for 7 days, then a second awizo for another 7 days. After those 14 days the letter counts as delivered even if you never picked it up (doręczenie zastępcze, KPC art. 139), and the deadline runs without you. So collect awizo letters and keep your address updated everywhere.

If you pay the full amount within the two weeks, the case is over.

What happens if you ignore it

Once the deadline passes, the order becomes final (prawomocny) and works like a judgment. The creditor gets an enforcement clause (klauzula wykonalności) and goes to a bailiff (komornik), who seizes your bank account, wages or other assets, while interest, court costs and the bailiff's fee pile up. By then the debt itself is very hard to dispute: that argument belonged in the objection.

If you first hear of the order from the bailiff because it went to an old address, act at once: within 7 days of learning about it you can file the objection with a request to restore the deadline (przywrócenie terminu), showing you did not live there.

What to do now

  1. Note the delivery date (if you never collected the letter: the fourteenth and last day it waited at the post office), count 14 days and put the last day in your calendar.
  2. Read the claim: who is suing, for what, for which period, how much. Is the debt real, already paid, or time-barred? Most bills and loans are time-barred after 3 years; if so, raise zarzut przedawnienia (the time-bar plea) in your objection.
  3. Decide: pay or defend. You can also challenge only part of the order, for example the interest or the costs.
  4. If you defend, file the sprzeciw (or zarzuty) with the court named in the pouczenie. It must be in Polish and state the case number (sygnatura), your details, whether you challenge the order in whole or in part, and why. In EPU you can file electronically at e-sad.gov.pl or on paper; an EPU objection needs no justification or evidence, but state your objections anyway. A sprzeciw in postępowanie upominawcze is free; zarzuty in postępowanie nakazowe carry a court fee (three quarters of the fee on the claim, as of 2026-08).
  5. Send it by registered mail through Poczta Polska and keep the receipt, or hand it in at the court's filing office (biuro podawcze).
  6. If you cannot afford a lawyer, use the free legal aid points (nieodpłatna pomoc prawna) in your county (powiat) or ask the court to appoint one.

A properly filed objection makes the order lose force and sends the case to a normal hearing where both sides are heard. In EPU the court discontinues the case instead; the creditor may sue again in an ordinary court.

How analfabeta.pl helps

Paste the text of the order or photograph it. You get a clear answer in your own language: what this letter is, whether you must act and by what date, counted from the day you received it. If you want, we also prepare a formal objection in Polish, with a mirror translation so you know exactly what you are signing, and a ready-to-send PDF.

Frequently asked questions

What is a nakaz zapłaty from a Polish court?

A nakaz zapłaty is a court payment order made without a hearing and without asking you anything: someone filed a claim (pozew) saying you owe them money, and the court checked only whether it looks credible on paper, not who is right. It tells you to pay the stated amount with interest and costs within two weeks, or to object within the same two weeks. It can come from a district court (sąd rejonowy), a regional court, or the e-Sąd in Lublin, the electronic court, in which case the letter contains a code to see the file at e-sad.gov.pl. The attached pouczenie names your remedy, the deadline and the court to write to.

How many days do I have to object to a nakaz zapłaty, and from when?

You have 14 days from delivery to file a sprzeciw (objection) in the standard procedure and in EPU, or zarzuty (pleas) in the stricter postępowanie nakazowe. The day you receive the letter does not count, the clock starts the next day, and a last day on a Saturday, Sunday or Polish public holiday moves the deadline to the next working day. A letter sent by registered mail from a Poczta Polska office on the last day is on time because the postmark counts; with a courier or post from abroad, do not wait. If you pay the full amount within the two weeks, the case is over.

What happens if I ignore a nakaz zapłaty?

Once the 14 days pass, the order becomes final (prawomocny) and works like a judgment. The creditor obtains an enforcement clause and goes to a komornik (court bailiff), who can seize your bank account, wages or other assets, while interest, court costs and the bailiff's fee are added on top. At that stage the debt itself is very hard to dispute, because that argument belonged in the objection.

Can I write my objection in English, or does it have to be in Polish?

Every document filed with a Polish court must be in Polish, so the objection has to be written in Polish, even if you explain your situation in English to whoever helps you. It must give the case number (sygnatura), your details, whether you challenge the order in whole or in part, and why; if the debt is more than 3 years old, raise the time-bar plea (zarzut przedawnienia). An objection in the standard procedure is free; zarzuty in postępowanie nakazowe carry a court fee of three quarters of the fee on the claim (as of 2026-08). Send it by registered mail through Poczta Polska and keep the receipt, or hand it in at the court's filing office; free legal aid points (nieodpłatna pomoc prawna) exist in every county.

I never collected the registered letter from the court. Does the order still count as delivered?

Yes. If the postman leaves an awizo (collection slip) and you do not pick the letter up within 7 days and a further 7 days after a second awizo, the letter counts as delivered on that fourteenth day (doręczenie zastępcze, KPC art. 139) and your 14-day deadline runs without you. If you first learn of the order from a bailiff because it went to an old address, you can file the objection within 7 days of learning about it together with a request to restore the deadline (przywrócenie terminu), showing you did not live there. Always collect awizo letters and keep your address updated with every office and creditor.

Does a nakaz zapłaty affect my karta pobytu or residence status in Poland?

A nakaz zapłaty is a civil matter between you and a creditor: it is not a criminal conviction and the court does not report it to the immigration office. What can hurt indirectly is letting it reach a bailiff, because wage or account seizures reduce the income you may need to document when applying for or extending a residence permit. So treat the 14 days seriously: either pay, or object, or at least contact the creditor about instalments before the order becomes final.