Coronavirus: Help for the credited parties – FAQs

At the beginning of the week, an important announcement was issued by the Polish Bank Association: a possible deferral of credit liabilities for up to three months!

The banks that are members of the association have agreed to implement the recommendations.

1. Who is entitled to this help and how to request it?

At present, banks are in the process of implementing their own procedures, which are to be as de-formalised as possible – to the extent that it will be sufficient to submit an application for deferment of loan instalments (mortgage, consumer or corporate), or even leasing instalments via e.g. Internet banking system.

Therefore, what is important is that the aid should, by definition, be for everyone – both consumers and businesses. If, therefore, due to the prevailing coronavirus epidemic, your liquidity has been affected in any way, it is worth making such a request to your bank, justifying your request with a short description of the impact of the current situation on your finances.

2. Is there any cost involved in submitting an application and what should we watch out for?

It should be stressed that, in accordance with the recommendations of the association, the bank should not charge any fee for processing the application!

We should be careful about the form and content of agreements entered into with the bank in cases of our most critical credit obligations – mortgages. In particular, you should consult a lawyer before signing any amendments to the so-called CHF (or other foreign currency) mortgages. Of course, no one assumes malice on the part of the banks, but the example of these contracts especially clearly shows how important the way individual contractual provisions are formulated is.

3. Is it planned to implement the aid package at the state level?

It should also be mentioned that in parallel, the work announced by the President of the Republic of Poland on the implementation of appropriate instruments to support borrowers at the state level is ongoing.

As soon as ready solutions are available, we will describe them in detail for you.

Mariusz Maksis, attorney-at-law