A creditor’s claim is a document that every creditor must prepare and submit to the relevant insolvency administrator if a person wants to receive at least partial satisfaction of his claim and exercise other creditor rights within the insolvency proceedings.
It is important to remember that although in everyday life the term creditor means any person who has a claim against the debtor, in the framework of insolvency proceedings only the person whose right of claim has been duly recognized in the particular insolvency proceedings is considered to be a creditor. Namely, the creditor acquires his status in the insolvency process only when the insolvency administrator, based on the received creditor’s claim, has made a relevant decision to recognize this claim. Thus, despite the fact that the creditor has a claim against the particular debtor, the creditor will have the right to receive money to satisfy his claim in the insolvency process, as well as the right to participate in the insolvency process (receive and request information, participate in creditors’ meetings, submit complaints about the administrator’s actions, etc.) only after he has submitted a justified creditor’s claim to the insolvency administrator.
In order for the creditor’s claim to be recognized as justified, it must meet all the requirements set forth in the Insolvency Law. In the creditor’s claim, all the information specified in the fourth part of Article 73 of the Insolvency Law must be specified. Namely, the creditor’s claim must state:
In addition to the information to be indicated in the creditor’s claim, in accordance with Article 73, part six of the Insolvency Law, substantiating documents shall be appended to the creditor’s claim. These are documents that confirm the creditor’s right to claim against the debtor, and from which the insolvency administrator can obtain full justification for the existence of the specific claim. The scope and type of these documents are not specified anywhere, various court rulings, contracts, invoices, bills of lading, payment orders, etc. can serve as grounds for the claim.
The creditor may submit his claim to the debtor’s insolvency administrator within one month from the date on which the entry is made in the insolvency register regarding the declaration of insolvency proceedings. The exact application deadline can be found in the insolvency register. In case of missed deadline, the creditor may submit the claim within six months, but not later than until the day when the plan for settling the claims of creditors has been drawn up, which may also take place within a shorter period. It should be borne in mind that in this case the creditor will not be granted voting rights at the creditors’ meeting. After this deadline a limitation period sets in, thereby the creditor loses his creditor status and his right to claim against the debtor.
The creditor’s claim must be submitted to the debtor’s insolvency administrator, not the debtor himself. The address of the administrator’s place of practice and the electronic mail address can be found in the insolvency register – https://maksatnespeja.ur.gov.lv/.
The creditor’s claim together with the substantiating documents can be submitted to the insolvency administrator in different ways: