What can I do if a seller goes bankrupt?
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Detailed explanation, checklist and sources
First identify the business named in your contract and verify its bankruptcy. Filing a claim preserves your demand, but does not promise payment. Also investigate any separate guarantee or insurance.
On this page
1. Verify the business and trustee
Search the Dutch Central Insolvency Register using the legal business name. An unavailable website does not prove bankruptcy. Record the case number, trustee and verified submission channel. Do not rely on bank details in an unexpected email.
2. Ask about delivery and payment
Ask the trustee whether your order will be completed, on what terms and when. Do not pay again without clarification. Bankruptcy does not automatically erase a payment obligation: goods already received may still require payment. If delivery cannot happen, record termination and your repayment claim in writing.
3. File an evidenced claim
Give the order number, amount paid, outstanding performance and calculation. Attach the invoice, payment evidence and correspondence; request acknowledgement and filing requirements. Payment depends on available assets and creditor priority. Immediately ask your card issuer or insurer about cover and notification deadlines; a chargeback is not guaranteed compensation.
4. Recover your property and check warranties
If your own appliance is with the business for repair, request its return as owner and identify it with the repair receipt and serial number. This differs from a money claim. Report defects in purchased goods to the trustee and check any separate manufacturer's warranty: the manufacturer does not automatically inherit the shop's statutory obligations.
5. Check travel and furniture protection
For a package holiday, check the organiser, coverage evidence and guarantee fund, such as SGR, GGTO or STO; ask whether travel, repatriation or repayment will be arranged. A standalone flight does not automatically receive the same protection: check card or insolvency insurance and contact the trustee. If only the package's airline fails, approach the organiser. A CBW-approved furniture shop's deposit scheme may allow credit towards another purchase subject to conditions, not automatic cash repayment.
6. Assess energy supplies and a restart
If an energy supplier fails in 2026, supply to small connections remains protected. Contract transfers have a maximum ten-working-day window after the withdrawal decision; residual allocation follows by working day eleven if needed. A genuine contract transfer includes existing terms and rights to repayment of advances. Residual allocation creates emergency supply for at most six months or until your own new contract starts; you may then switch without a termination fee. The switching block ends on transfer or the start of emergency supply, not automatically after twenty working days. Keep meter photographs and notices. Ask who must settle your credit; claims not transferred go to the insolvency administrator. Do not reverse payments indiscriminately. A business restarting under the same shop name does not automatically assume old debts; obtain written confirmation of any obligations it accepts.
Draft letter — complete yourself
Check facts and recipient. The requested response date is not automatically a statutory deadline; keep proof of sending.
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Will I always recover my deposit?
No. Registering a claim does not guarantee payment. Besides contacting the trustee, investigate separate card cover, insurance or a guarantee scheme. Report compensation to other relevant parties so the same loss is not reimbursed twice.
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Contact with a lawyer
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View the current application processSources
Need personal assistance? Request a lawyer through our chat. We explain the next step; submitting a request does not engage a lawyer. The links below support the legal information.
ACM ConsuWijzer — faillissement ondernemer ↗ACM ConsuWijzer — reisaanbieder failliet ↗ACM ConsuWijzer — energiebedrijf failliet ↗Het Juridisch Loket — bedrijf failliet ↗Rechtspraak — Centraal Insolventieregister ↗Energiebesluit — artikelen 2.12–2.15 ↗Toelichting 2026 — overname voorschotten en noodlevering ↗Sources may be in Dutch. General information about Dutch law, not individual legal advice.