High interest of the insurer in 10-year statute of limitations for debts To EFKA, as more than 35,000 applications were submitted in two and a half months. After a meeting at the Ministry of Labor in order to expedite procedures Insurance Debt Collection Center (KEAO) has activated a new application to simplify and therefore speed up the process of filling out applications for cancellation due to the statute of limitations of debts of self-employed insured persons.

Special platform

Through a special platform, which employees now have access to, the search for interrupting events, which, by law, automatically lead to the interruption of the statute of limitations, has been automated. That is, once it is determined that one of these interrupt events has occurred, the deletion becomes inactive.

We remind you that the limitation period applies to all categories of debtors. insurance premiums (employers, freelancers, self-employed and farmers). The ten-year limitation period starts from the first day of the year following the year in which the insured work or service was provided, and for claims arising from insured work or services that must be provided after 01/01/2026, the limitation period will be five years.

Be careful. The limitation period applies to claims (debts) that have not been declared (claimed) within a 10-year period. The self-employed will be able to pay off their debts despite the statute of limitations, if they so wish, to recognize the period that the statute of limitations has expired as insurance time.

In addition, in accordance with the current regulations, special attention is paid to those debtors who have settled debts for more than ten years, so that they do not suffer even if they were consecutive. In these cases, and at the request of the interested party, the established amount is deducted from the calculation, and the amounts paid cover the remaining debt.

For example, a self-employed person who applies for a pension in 2022 is in arrears in contributions for 2002-2011, which EFKA did not attribute to him until the time of application. These contributions relate to a period of more than ten years and are therefore statute-barred.

Over 35,000 insurance claims were filed in two and a half months.

However, to establish a pension right, a self-employed person still needs five years of service. He then has the option to pay five of the ten years set to have them recognized as insured time. On the other hand, if EFKA notified the insured of proof of payment of said premiums within ten years of its creation (an event interrupting the statute of limitations), then the insured must pay all premiums.

Suppose that in 2019 the debt of 2008 was confirmed, and then at the request of the insured, the debt of 2008 was repaid, which, with the reservation in question, refers to a period of more than ten years and, thus, becomes overdue. This debtor may, upon his application, demand that the remaining debt with an expired limitation period be written off. However, he may continue to service the agreement so that the period of insurance corresponding to the debt is recognized.

According to the EFKA Circular on Accelerating Procedures, the most common events that interrupt the statute of limitations are:

• Payment by the debtor of either non-adjustable debt amounts or settlement payments pursuant to a settlement claim/decision.

• Registration of KEAO in the relevant World Court / Mortgage Office-Cadastre of the arrest of movable / immovable property in the hands of the debtor or by servicing a third party or credit organization with the arrest of the claim in his hands.

• Registration of KEAO in the relevant Mortgage Registry/Land Registry of the pledge of the debtor’s immovable property as security for the claim (due).

• Delivery (after 01.01.2015) of KEAO to the debtor of an individual notification, provided for by KEDE, on the initiation of enforcement proceedings.

• Delivery to the competent official of the auction (notary) of the notice of the KEAO on the classification of the claim (debtor) in the auction classification table.

• Sending to the bankruptcy trustee KEAO for classifying the claim (debtor) in the bankruptcy distribution table.