Filing a claim in French insolvency 2026: procedure, deadlines and creditor rights

Filing a claim in French insolvency 2026: procedure, deadlines and creditor rights

The opening of insolvency proceedings (safeguard, judicial reorganization or liquidation) requires all pre-petition creditors to file their claim with the judicial agent. This formality, governed by Article L. 622-24 of the French Commercial Code, conditions the right to participate in distributions and to vote in committees or affected-parties classes. A claim not filed within the legal deadline is in principle unenforceable against the proceedings.

1. Who must file?

All creditors whose claim arose before the opening judgment must file (Article L. 622-24, paragraph 1). This includes:

• Unpaid suppliers
• Banks and credit institutions
• Commercial landlord for unpaid rent
• French tax authorities and social security bodies (URSSAF, pension, welfare)
• Employees for claims not covered by the AGS wage guarantee
• Unsecured and secured creditors alike

Post-petition claims benefiting from the priority of Article L. 622-17 (claims useful to the proceedings) do not need to be filed.

2. Filing deadline: 2 or 4 months

2.1. Standard deadline: 2 months

The deadline to file is two months from the publication of the opening judgment in the BODACC (the official French commercial gazette). This is the standard rule (Article R. 622-24).

2.2. Foreign creditors: 4 months

For creditors whose domicile or registered office is outside metropolitan France, the deadline is extended to four months (Article R. 622-24, paragraph 2).

2.3. Creditors holding a published security

Creditors holding a published security must be personally notified by the judicial agent. Their deadline starts from this notification (Article L. 622-24, paragraph 4). Without notification, the deadline does not start.

3. How to file

The filing is sent by any means establishing the date of receipt with certainty (Article R. 622-21). In practice: registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt or the judicial agent's electronic portal.

The filing must include (Article R. 622-23):

• Creditor identification
• Claim amount as of the opening judgment date, with sums to fall due and their dates
• Nature of any priority or security attached
• Method of calculating interest, where the running of interest is not stopped
• Reference to any pending litigation
• All supporting documents: invoices, contracts, judgments, guarantee deeds

4. Foreclosure: sanction of late filing

Failing timely filing, the creditor is foreclosed: no participation in distributions, no voting, no enforcement of the claim against the debtor in bonis after the proceedings.

Since the 12 March 2014 ordinance, an unfiled claim is no longer extinguished but is unenforceable against the proceedings. It theoretically survives but cannot be enforced during the proceedings or after liability discharge (with rare exceptions).

5. Foreclosure relief (Article L. 622-26)

The foreclosed creditor may seek foreclosure relief within 6 months of the opening judgment (1 year for foreign creditors or those not personally notified). The creditor must prove that:

• Its default is not attributable to its own fault (oversight, fault not imputable to the creditor)
• Or its claim was deliberately omitted by the debtor on the list submitted to the court

The action is brought before the supervisory judge (juge-commissaire). The creditor must submit its filing together with the relief application.

6. Verification and challenges

The judicial agent verifies each filing (Article L. 624-1) and may:

• Admit the claim for its amount
• Propose rejection in whole or in part
• Note a serious challenge and refer to the supervisory judge

In case of a rejection proposal, the creditor has 30 days to respond. The supervisory judge issues an order subject to appeal before the Court of Appeal (Article L. 624-3).

7. Special cases

7.1. Sureties

A surety must file its potential claim (subrogation, recourse after payment). Failure to file may lead to discharge of the surety in certain cases (Article 2314 of the French Civil Code).

7.2. Tax and social claims

The tax authorities and URSSAF file provisionally and confirm amounts after audit. Final amounts must be notified within one year (Article L. 622-24, paragraph 3).

7.3. Retention of title clauses

The retention-of-title creditor may claim the asset in addition to filing its claim (Article L. 624-9). Action must be brought within 3 months of publication.

8. Mac Mahon Avocats: creditor representation in French insolvency

Mac Mahon Avocats represents institutional creditors (banks, funds, strategic suppliers) and unsecured creditors in the filing, defense and recovery of claims in proceedings opened before the Commercial Courts of Paris, Nanterre and Bobigny.

Legal sources: French Commercial Code, Articles L. 622-24 to L. 624-3, R. 622-21 to R. 624-13; Ordinance no. 2014-326 of 12 March 2014; Cass. com., 25 May 2022, no. 20-22.246 (foreclosure relief).