That is not to say, by the way, that nothing is going on. Robbert: "Big brand names have gone bankrupt, in the hospitality industry, the construction sector, retail... these are industries that are struggling. Although the hospitality industry, for example, is struggling, you do see that the terraces are full. But the amounts spent per table have decreased, people are taking fewer drinks because prices have gone up. And so everything has become more expensive, more people will opt for private brands and that affects more expensive brands. Anyway, I am not a forecaster, I can say with certainty that as a business owner you can guard against defaulters. At Mariënbergh, we see every day the misery that can result from bankruptcy, which you can prevent. You can start working with prepayment, but at the same time you want to remain competitive. You can do a credit check yourself, but you should also know that data becomes less reliable and that a credit check done by a specialised organisation gives much more insight." But fortunately, credit insurance exists.
More risk
"Uninsured customers are more at risk. They can file for bankruptcy, but they also know that even then they are still not sure they will be paid for their products or services. If a company actually goes bankrupt, in practice, the average creditor is left with nothing. Having a bankruptcy filed, on the other hand, costs money and time. The creditor is further financially duped in such a case. Therefore, very few aggrieved parties ultimately want to put a party out of business. Sometimes they do want to do so, in which case a factor is that they want to protect others from a company that does not pay its bills. Sometimes personal considerations play a role. They may have worked together on the basis of good faith and emotional sentiment weighs heavily then. But this is not common. Often a bankruptcy petition is used as a collection tool, so that a debt is still paid. The other day we had four applications, for which payment arrangements were eventually made anyway. The application is then used not with the aim of having the company declared bankrupt, but as a means of still getting the claim paid."
Turboliquidation
"Another interesting thing to share is that the regulations on turboliquidation have been tightened since November 2023. A turboliquidation is used to dissolve a legal entity, such as a private limited company, in a quick and inexpensive way. This remedy may only be used if there are no more assets (assets). A bankruptcy is then pointless. This is because a receiver has to monetise assets, but if there are none, then unnecessary costs are incurred for which the receiver himself pays. There was a lot of abuse of turboliquidation. Creditors were then suddenly faced with an entity that no longer existed and were left empty-handed. The tightened rules mean that more information must be submitted when applying for a turboliquidation, for example the company's closing balance sheet and statements from the director(s). Creditors must be notified and, as a creditor, you can also request the documents from the Commercial Register. It is interesting if it turns out that the director made false statements. Then the former director can be held personally liable through the courts. The stricter rules make it more difficult to abuse turboliquidations, as creditors can better assess whether there is prejudice."