Review of creditors’ claims

The insolvency practitioner reviews the authenticity, amount or ranking of the claims filed. Disputes may be conducted on contested claims.

The claims filed are first reviewed by the insolvency practitioner, who mainly cross-checks them against the accompanying documents and the debtor’s accounts or records kept in accordance with special legislation. The insolvency practitioner then invites the debtor to comment on the claims. Where appropriate, the insolvency practitioner conducts the necessary investigation into the claims in cooperation with the authorities, which are obliged to provide such cooperation.

If a filed claim is defective or incomplete, the insolvency practitioner invites the creditor to correct or complete it within 15 days (a longer time limit may be set), and advises them on how to do so. The insolvency practitioner submits filed claims that are not supplemented or corrected in a due and timely manner to the insolvency court for a decision on whether the claim is to be disregarded. The creditor must be informed of this.

The insolvency practitioner draws up a list of the claims registered. Secured creditors are listed separately. If claims are denied by the insolvency practitioner, this must be explicitly stated. For all creditors, the information necessary to identify them and to assess how the claim arose and the amount and ranking thereof must be indicated. In addition, for secured creditors the reason for and method of security must be stated.

The list of registered claims is published by the insolvency court in the insolvency register prior to the review hearing. The insolvency court also immediately publishes any change to the list of registered claims in the insolvency register.

The registered claims are then reviewed at a review hearing ordered by the insolvency court. The date and place of the review hearing are set by the insolvency court in its insolvency decision. Creditors have until the end of the review hearing to change the amount of the claim they are registering, unless it is secured or has been denied by a decision that is final. However, they cannot change the reason why the registered claim arose or its ranking.

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