LithuaniaLiteko
Lender who skipped payment order bears extra litigation costs
Appeal court cut a repaid 100,000 Eur loan creditor's recoverable costs from 1,717.12 Eur to 373.15 Eur per debtor: with no sign of dispute it should have used a payment order.
By Taxxa AI OyPublished 12 November 2026
Industry: Across industries
UAB "Prodigita" lent UAB "Laista" 100,000 Eur on 20 May 2024Teismai
Teismai, repayable by 20 May 2026
Teismai with interest and penalties, guaranteed by UAB "Retiva" on solidary terms. "Laista" paid interest monthly but missed the principal date
Teismai
Teismai. On 21 May 2026 "Prodigita" sued both companies
Teismai for the 100,000 Eur debt
Teismai, 20 Eur in penalties and 10.15 percent annual interest. On 28 May 2026 "Laista" repaid the principal
Teismai. On 3 July 2026 "Prodigita" withdrew the claim
Teismai and asked for costs and a partial stamp-duty refund. The Šiauliai Regional Court by ruling of 9 July 2026
Teismai accepted the withdrawal, closed the case
Teismai, and ordered each defendant to pay "Prodigita" 1,717.12 Eur in costs
Teismai while refunding 1,293.75 Eur of stamp duty, reasoning that the defendants' silence after maturity gave no reason to expect payment without suit and that a claim for 100,020 Eur would have ended in the regional court anyway.
The Lithuanian Court of Appeal, by Nutartis Nr. e2-790-464/2026Teismai of 12 November 2026
Teismai, partly allowed the debtors' separate appeal
Teismai and cut the award to 373.15 Eur per defendant
Teismai, 746.30 Eur in total
Teismai, while ordering "Prodigita" to pay "Laista" 726 Eur of appellate costs
Teismai. Under Civilinio proceso kodeksas 434(4), a creditor who brings an undisputed monetary claim in contentious proceedings, though there was no reason to think the debtor would dispute it, recovers only the costs it would have incurred in documentary or payment-order proceedings.
Teismai "Laista" never disputed the 100,000 Eur debt
Teismai and serviced interest monthly, and the eight-day repayment delay did not signal a dispute. A payment-order application would have cost 431 Eur in stamp duty
Teismai, of which only the 25 percent non-refundable part, 107.75 Eur, stays with the creditor after withdrawal
Teismai.
The fee invoice was attributable to the case: representation agreement of 5 May 2026 with Glimstedt Bernotas ir partneriai advocate Bartas Gedminas, invoice MAR Nr. 5200045 of 30 June 2026 for 5,481.30 Eur paid on 8 July 2026, and a later specification tying file Nr. CRED-70061 to case Nr. e2-357-650/2026 with the claim, consultations and conferences. But the amount was unreasonable for a standard loan claimTeismai and is capped at the payment-order maximum
Teismai: 638.55 Eur under point 8.6 of the Rekomendacijos
Teismai at the then current average monthly gross pay of 2,554.20 Eur. The first-instance arithmetic slip in splitting 3,431.25 Eur did not affect the outcome. Legal basis: Civilinio proceso kodeksas 434(4), 93, 98, 329(1), 337(1)(4) and 338; Rekomendacijos 8.6 and 8.15.
File acknowledged loan debts by payment order and keep fee invoices and specifications tied to the case file from the start.