expiry date.
This is not a theoretical risk. Aged debts are the most common reason claims fail in cross-border collection — not because the debt is disputed, but because the creditor waited too long. The period starts from the date payment was due, or in some jurisdictions, from the date of the debtor's last acknowledgment.
The rules vary by jurisdiction. In France and Germany, filing a court action interrupts limitation. In the UK, a written acknowledgment or partial payment restarts the 6-year clock. Know your jurisdiction before assuming you have more time.
Some agencies will still accept time-barred claims on an amicable basis — a debtor who doesn't know the limitation has expired may still pay. But legal escalation is off the table. Recovery rates on time-barred claims drop below 12% industry-wide. The window is not a guideline; it is a hard deadline.
The right moment to place a file is the day internal dunning fails — typically day 60–90. Not month 18. Not when you've remembered it exists. The limitation period is not a runway; it is a ceiling with a trapdoor.
The clock is running.
Don't find out it stopped.
Tell us the invoice date and the debtor's country. We'll confirm whether you're still in the window — and what it takes to interrupt the clock before it's too late.
Contact Us, Free Review →Is your claim still within the window?
Share the invoice due date and the debtor’s country. We’ll confirm the limitation status and recommend the next step within one working day.
The clock starts the moment payment is due
The limitation period begins on the invoice due date — not the invoice date, and not the date you first chased. In Germany, it runs from the end of the calendar year in which the debt fell due, meaning a December invoice and a January invoice from the same year expire simultaneously at year-end plus three years. In the UK, the six-year clock starts on the exact day the payment was contractually required. In France, five years from the date the creditor knew — or ought to have known — of the claim. The starting point is jurisdiction-specific and material: get it wrong and you may act inside what feels like the window while already outside the enforceable one. Use our statute of limitations checker for a fast country read.
Eight jurisdictions, eight deadlines
The spread across major trading markets is wider than most creditors expect. Germany runs the shortest of the major European markets at three years, calculated on the calendar-year rule. Italy extends to ten years for written contracts — the longest in continental Europe. The UAE permits fifteen years on commercial agreements, the longest runway of any major market. France and Spain sit at five years, the UK at six, China at three, and the US at four years for written contracts under most state laws. If you trade across all eight markets, you are managing eight different legal deadlines simultaneously — most of them with no automatic reminder.
Four things that reset the clock
The limitation period is not immovable. Written acknowledgment of the debt by the debtor — an email confirming the amount owed, a letter requesting more time — resets the clock in the UK, Spain, and Italy, restarting the full period from the date of that acknowledgment. A partial payment has the same effect in most jurisdictions. In France, a formally served demand letter delivered by a huissier interrupts the limitation period legally. Filing a court action — including a European Payment Order application — stops the clock in virtually every EU jurisdiction. This is why an agency placement at day 60–90 matters beyond the immediate collection objective: a properly served formal demand in the debtor's jurisdiction is also a clock interrupt. The timeline briefing shows why early action also accelerates the recovery itself.
What recovery looks like after expiry
A time-barred claim is not zero — but it is close. Amicable collection remains possible if the debtor does not know the limitation has expired or prefers to preserve the commercial relationship regardless. Industry data puts recovery rates on time-barred claims below twelve percent, against sixty-five percent for in-time amicable placements. Legal escalation is simply unavailable: any competent local lawyer for the debtor will raise the limitation defence immediately, and the cost of pursuing a defended time-barred claim turns negative fast. The practical message is blunt — the limitation period is not a guideline for when to escalate, it is a hard ceiling with a trapdoor. Most creditors discover it when they fall through.
Elena Moreau
Senior Market Analyst, EU Region
Elena leads Collecty's European market intelligence, tracking industry size, NPL portfolios, and cross-border recovery trends. She works with creditors across the EU, the UK, and connected jurisdictions to translate regulatory change into commercial strategy. Before Collecty, she spent eight years in credit risk and receivables analytics across three European banks.
