Deadline to file a claim in French insolvency proceedings

Filing a claim in French insolvency: the time limits

The territory is mainland France when the court sits there, or otherwise the overseas department or territory of the court. The same rules apply in judicial reorganisation (article L. 631-14) and in judicial liquidation, where the claim goes to the liquidator (article L. 641-3).

Why the BODACC publication date matters more than the judgment date

The BODACC is the French official gazette of civil and commercial notices. The time limit does not run from the day the court opens the proceedings, nor from the day you find out. It runs from publication of the opening judgment in the BODACC (article R. 622-24 of the French Commercial Code).

Several days pass between judgment and publication. Within fifteen days of the judgment, the court-appointed creditors’ representative must tell known creditors to file their claims (article R. 622-21). For a creditor without a registered security, that letter does not start the clock: counting two or four months from receiving it can leave you out of time.

The tool shows both the judgment date and the publication date, and counts from publication.

Example: an opening judgment given by a court in mainland France is published in the BODACC on 3 September 2026. A supplier based in Lyon must file by 3 November 2026. A supplier based in Brussels has until 3 January 2027.

Who must file, and what

All creditors whose claim arose before the opening judgment, other than employees, file their claims with the creditors’ representative, or with the liquidator in a liquidation. The claim can be filed by the creditor or by any employee or agent of its choice (article L. 622-24). It must be filed even if it is not backed by a judgment or other enforceable title, on the basis of an estimate if the amount is not yet fixed.

Under article L. 622-25, the claim states:

• the amount due on the date of the opening judgment;
• amounts falling due later, with their due dates;
• the nature and scope of any security attached to the claim.

Attach the supporting documents: invoices, purchase orders or delivery notes, the contract, a statement of account. The official French government guidance on Entreprendre.Service-Public recommends registered post with acknowledgement of receipt, to avoid any dispute over the time limit. Claims in a foreign currency are converted into euros.

If the debtor has reported your claim to the creditors’ representative, it is presumed to have acted on your behalf until you file yourself (article L. 622-24). Do not rely on that presumption: file yourself, with the exact amount.

Three cases where the date shown is not enough

• You hold a registered security or a registered contract. You are notified personally, and the time limit runs from that notice, not from publication (article L. 622-24). Tick the matching box: the tool then shows no date.
• The proceedings have had several judgments. Safeguard converted into reorganisation, reorganisation converted into liquidation, a corrective notice: several notices follow each other. The tool lists them all. Have the date that applies to your claim confirmed.
• Your claim arose after the opening judgment. Unless it is one of the claims that article L. 622-17 pays as they fall due, it must also be filed, but the time limit runs from the date it became payable (article L. 622-24). The tool does not cover it.

Missed the deadline: applying to lift the time bar

A creditor who does not file in time is not admitted to distributions and dividends. The supervising judge can lift the time bar if the creditor shows that the failure was not its fault, or was due to the debtor leaving it off the list of creditors given to the creditors’ representative (article L. 622-26).

The application must be made within six months of publication of the opening judgment. For holders of a registered security, the six months run from receipt of the personal notice. As an exception, a creditor who shows it could not have known of the debt before the six months ran out has a period running from the date it could no longer have been unaware of its claim.

If the bar is lifted, the filing period runs only from notice of the decision, and it is halved (article L. 622-24). The creditor then shares only in distributions made after its application.

Mistakes that cost creditors their claim

• Waiting for the creditors’ representative to write. Without a registered security, the clock runs from BODACC publication, whether or not you were told.
• Filing an incomplete amount. Amounts falling due later and any security must be included.
• Sending the claim to the debtor or the court. It goes to the creditors’ representative or the liquidator named in the notice.
• Counting on an extension. The tool shows the raw date. If it falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, file before it.
• Forgetting the limitation period. Outside insolvency, an unpaid invoice can also become time-barred: check the period with our French limitation periods calculator.
• Not watching your customers. Check your main debtors in the BODACC whenever a payment is unusually late, and see our guide to recovering an unpaid invoice in France.

Where the data comes from

When you search, your browser queries two public services directly: the BODACC API, published by the French Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information under the Licence Ouverte, and the government’s company search API when you enter a name. The SIREN number or name you enter is sent to them to get the answer. The firm receives, stores and logs nothing you enter.

The result appears on this page, with no separate page per company. Notices are read at the time of your search: a notice not yet published does not appear.