What a bankruptcy means
The enterprise court declares a company bankrupt when it has permanently stopped paying and can no longer get credit. The court appoints a trustee (curator). The trustee takes over from the directors, sells what can be sold and shares the proceeds among the creditors.
A bankruptcy is not the same as a liquidation or a judicial reorganisation. In a liquidation the shareholders close the company themselves. In a reorganisation the company is protected while it seeks an agreement with its creditors. This page lists bankruptcies only.
Your customer went bankrupt, what now?
File your claim with the trustee through the Central Solvency Register (RegSol), within the deadline set in the ruling. A late claim is still possible, but at your cost, and you miss the distributions already made.
See also how to reclaim VAT on an unpaid invoice and when to invoke retention of title.
See it coming in time
A bankruptcy rarely comes out of nowhere. Negative equity, annual accounts filed late, ever longer payment terms and changing directors are the known warning signs.
Read the five signs of an approaching bankruptcy, or follow your customers and suppliers on Jaarrekening.be. You get an alert as soon as their legal situation changes or they file new annual accounts.