Payment demand in Portugal: interpelação and injunção

Quick answer

A debtor in Portugal is generally in default (mora) only once you demand payment in writing or otherwise: an interpelação (artigo 805.º do Código Civil), unless a fixed date was agreed. From default, interest runs: 4% a year for civil debts. Between businesses, the commercial rate (10.40% from July to December 2026) and €40 run without any demand. A letter does not interrupt limitation in Portugal: only court steps, the injunção notification or the debtor’s acknowledgement do. Claims of traders and professionals against consumers are presumed paid after two years. If the debtor does not pay, apply for an injunção (payment order).

This guide covers sums already due from a company or individual in Portugal: an unpaid invoice, an agreed refund, a loan not repaid. It is general information, not legal advice. For a rental deposit, see tenant letters in Portugal; to complain about goods or a service, see formal complaints in Portugal; to end a contract, see cancelling a contract in Portugal.

Check the debt and the dates

Know why the money is owed, its amount and when it fell due, and keep the contract, order, invoices, transfer records and messages. If no date was agreed, you can demand payment at any time (art. 777.º CC). A debt whose amount is not yet fixed is not in default until it is (art. 805.º CC). Whether a due date written only on an invoice counts as a fixed date for a consumer debt is debated, so an interpelação removes the doubt. Note the debtor’s full name or company name, address and NIF (Portuguese tax number): you will need them for an injunção.

Write the interpelação

The law prescribes no form for an out-of-court demand (art. 219.º CC): a letter or e-mail is valid. Give a clear deadline; the law sets none, and 8 to 15 days is common practice. Your letter takes effect when it reaches the debtor (art. 224.º CC), and you must prove it did (art. 342.º CC). Interest runs from default; where you set a payment deadline, claiming it from the end of that deadline is the safer reading, as courts vary. Only mention steps you will really take: a business collecting from a consumer must not threaten action that is not legally possible (DL n.º 57/2008).

In the example, keep the interest sentence that fits your case and delete the other. If the debtor is a company, write “Exmos. Senhores,” and “V. Ex.as” instead. Replace every placeholder and list the enclosures.

Assunto: Interpelação para pagamento — [fatura n.º ou contrato de referência]

Exmo(a). Senhor(a) [Nome do devedor],

Nos termos de [contrato, encomenda ou fatura n.º [número]] de [data], é-me devida a quantia de [montante] euros, relativa a [bens fornecidos, serviços prestados ou outro motivo], vencida em [data de vencimento]. Até à data, [não recebi qualquer pagamento / recebi apenas [montante pago] euros], pelo que se encontra em dívida a quantia de [montante em dívida] euros.

Pela presente, interpelo V. Ex.ª para proceder ao pagamento da quantia de [montante em dívida] euros no prazo de [número] dias a contar da receção desta carta, por transferência bancária para a conta com o IBAN [IBAN], indicando como referência [referência].

Sobre a quantia em dívida são devidos juros de mora desde [data] até integral pagamento, [à taxa legal de 4 % ao ano, nos termos do artigo 806.º do Código Civil e da Portaria n.º 291/2003 / à taxa supletiva de juros moratórios aplicável às transações comerciais, nos termos do artigo 102.º do Código Comercial e do artigo 4.º do Decreto-Lei n.º 62/2013, acrescidos da indemnização de 40 euros prevista no artigo 7.º do mesmo diploma].

Caso a quantia seja contestada ou já tenha sido paga, solicito que tal me seja comunicado por escrito no mesmo prazo.

Na falta de pagamento no prazo indicado, reservo-me o direito de recorrer aos meios legais adequados, designadamente ao procedimento de injunção.

Com os melhores cumprimentos, [Nome completo] [NIF] [Morada]

Interest and the €40 in 2026

The civil legal rate is 4% a year (Portaria n.º 291/2003). A higher rate counts only if it was agreed in writing (art. 559.º CC); a rate printed only on the invoice is unlikely to count. For businesses’ commercial claims, never against a consumer, the rate for 1 July to 31 December 2026 is 9.40%, and 10.40% for transactions covered by DL n.º 62/2013 (Aviso n.º 16623/2026/2); in the first half of 2026 it was 9.15% and 10.15%. Compute each half-year at its own rate; the next rate applies from 1 January 2027.

DL n.º 62/2013 covers payments between businesses, freelancers included, or between a business and a public body, never contracts with consumers. Interest runs without any demand from the day after the due date or, if none was agreed, 30 days after the invoice arrives; agreed payment terms may not exceed 60 days unless expressly agreed and not grossly unfair (art. 4.º). You can also claim at least €40 for recovery costs, without any demand (art. 7.º). A part-payment is applied to expenses, interest and only then to capital, unless you agree otherwise (art. 785.º CC).

Limitation: a letter does not stop the clock

Most debts prescribe after 20 years (art. 309.º CC), interest and rent after 5 (art. 310.º CC). But claims of traders for goods sold to consumers, of those who supply works or services professionally, and of liberal professions are presumed paid after two years (art. 317.º CC). After that, the debtor only needs to say they paid, and you can win only through their confession, which must be in writing if made out of court (art. 313.º CC). Which professions count depends on case law. Bills for essential services, such as phone or electricity, prescribe after 6 months (art. 10.º Lei n.º 23/96).

In Portugal, an interpelação does not interrupt limitation. It is interrupted only by a court step, such as service or notification of a claim (art. 323.º CC), the injunção notification or filing at a Julgado de Paz, or by the debtor’s acknowledgement of the debt to you (art. 325.º CC); a new period then starts. If a deadline is close, file instead of writing. A written acknowledgement or payment plan from the debtor is valuable, so the second example asks for one, with a declaration to sign and return. Keep the bracketed instalment clause only if you have agreed a payment plan.

Assunto: Pedido de reconhecimento de dívida — [fatura n.º ou contrato de referência]

Exmo(a). Senhor(a) [Nome do devedor],

Na sequência [da minha carta de [data] / dos nossos contactos], e para que possamos acordar a forma de pagamento, solicito a confirmação escrita do montante em dívida de [montante] euros, relativo a [fatura n.º ou contrato de referência], mediante a devolução, até [data], da declaração abaixo, datada e assinada.

Estou disponível para analisar uma proposta de pagamento em prestações, que deverá ser igualmente formalizada por escrito.

Com os melhores cumprimentos, [Nome completo]

Declaração de reconhecimento de dívida

Eu, [Nome do devedor], NIF [NIF do devedor], declaro que reconheço dever a [Nome do credor] a quantia de [montante] euros, relativa a [fatura n.º ou contrato de referência][, que me comprometo a pagar em [número] prestações mensais de [montante] euros, a partir de [data]].

[Local e data] [Assinatura do devedor]

If the debtor still does not pay

An injunção (payment order) covers money claims from contracts up to €15,000, or of any amount for transactions between businesses (DL n.º 269/98; art. 10.º DL n.º 62/2013). It is handled by the Balcão Nacional de Injunções in Porto; without a lawyer you can use the paper form, in Portuguese. The fee in 2026 is €51 up to €5,000, €102 up to €15,000 and €153 above. The debtor is notified by registered letter and has 15 days to pay or oppose; if they do neither, you get an enforceable title. Give the debtor’s correct address: if notification fails, the application is returned unless you asked for the case to go to court. If the debtor opposes, the case goes to court, and above €5,000 a lawyer becomes compulsory.

Julgados de Paz (small-claims courts) hear claims up to €15,000, with a fee of €70 paid by the losing party, or €25 each if settled in mediation (Portaria n.º 342/2019). They exclude money claims under standard-form contracts (art. 9.º Lei n.º 78/2001), so they do not suit every debt; they exist only in some municipalities, and parties must attend in person. If you live in another EU country, the European order for payment is another route. MaisonMail posts letters; it does not go to court or collect debts.

Post your letter and keep evidence

Upload your completed PDF or write the letter in MaisonMail, and add copies of invoices in the send flow. The recipient address determines the destination; available services, estimated delivery and the final price appear before payment. A tracked letter, with a copy sent by e-mail, is a valid interpelação, but tracking shows that an item arrived, not what the envelope contained. MaisonMail sends standard and tracked letters to Portugal, not registered post. If the debt is large or the debtor is likely to deny receipt, also send the letter by carta registada com aviso de receção (registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt) from a post office of CTT, the Portuguese postal operator, or use a notificação judicial avulsa (formal notice served on the debtor after a court order). Keep a copy of the exact letter and of every reply.