Information for Creditors

Please refer to :

Alternatives for Bankruptcy

Filing for Bankruptcy

Once a debtor is declared bankrupt by the High Court, you can no longer commence or continue with any legal action against the bankrupt to recover monetary claims that arose before the bankruptcy.

If your claim was incurred prior to the making of the Bankruptcy Order, you can submit a Proof of Debt (Form 23) to the Official Assignee.

If you are the creditor who commenced the bankruptcy proceedings, you should also file a Proof of Debt against the bankrupt.

Debts that are incurred after the date of the making of the Bankruptcy Order are not provable (claimable) against the bankruptcy estate. If a bankrupt borrows from you without informing you of his status as a bankrupt, you should immediately provide feedback to the Official Assignee, using the “First Incident Report” form.

You can file the Proof of Debt manually or electronically. If you would like to lodge your claim electronically, you may do so here.

Alternatively, you can download the Proof of Debt form (Form 23) and checklist to creditors for supporting documents and file the form, checklist and supporting documents manually, by mailing or faxing it to:

The Official Assignee
Insolvency & Public Trustee's Office
The URA Centre, East Wing,
45 Maxwell Road, #06-11 Singapore 069118
Fax : 6325 1417

The Proof of Debt should reflect the bankrupt’s information such as the bankrupt’s name, bankruptcy reference number and the creditor's particulars including your name, the amount owed and the nature of the claim.

Documents such as invoices, judgments and/or other supporting documents are to be furnished to the Official Assignee to support your Proof of Debt. Please refer to the checklist to creditors for more details on the supporting documents. Please quote the e-filing reference number and the bankruptcy reference number of the bankrupt when you submit the supporting documents. Proofs of Debt without any supporting documents will be rejected.

Creditors who change their addresses after filing their Proofs of Debt must notify the Official Assignee of the change.

For online filing of a Proof of Debt, a filing fee of S$5 is payable.

For manual filing, a filing fee of S$8 is payable at the Official Assignee’s office by NETS or Cashcard.

Please note that the fee for filing a Proof of Debt is not claimable against the bankruptcy estate.

Yes. You may access the Individual Insolvency Administration Information (IIAI) portal on our website to find out the amount of the total claims against the bankruptcy estate account.

In addition, you will get information such as the date the bankruptcy petition was filed, the name of the petitioning creditor, the date of the bankruptcy order, trustee in bankruptcy and the total amount in the bankruptcy estate account.

Each online search costs $5. 

You cannot take further legal proceedings against a bankrupt to recover any debts incurred before bankruptcy.

If you hold security over a bankrupt’s property or goods, you have a right to sell the property or goods if the bankrupt does not continue to meet the payments when they are due. You should realise the security within six months from the date of the making of the bankruptcy order or such extended time as the Official Assignee may allow. Otherwise, you will not be entitled to claim any interest in respect of your debts subsequent to the date of the making of the Bankruptcy Order.

If the property or goods are worth more than the amount of money secured against it, any balance from the proceeds of sale after discharging the security will be remitted to the Official Assignee and used to pay a dividend to the bankrupt’s other creditors.

Certain properties are protected against creditors by law, which means these properties cannot be sold or taken over by the Official Assignee.

Such properties include:

• trust properties
• HDB flats where at least one of the owners is a Singapore Citizen
• Central Provident Fund contributions
• necessary household furniture, personal effects
• limited tools of trade
• life insurance policies which are expressed to be for the benefit of the bankrupt’s spouse or children
• compensation awarded for legal actions in respect of personal injuries or wrongful acts against the bankrupt.

Notices will be published in The Straits Times to inform you of the Official Assignee's intention to declare dividends to creditors. This is done when there are sufficient funds in the bankruptcy estate for a dividend payout or for the bankrupt to make a debt settlement offer.

You are advised to consider any debt settlement offer of bankrupts seriously and to accept any invitation to mediation if proposed.

You can contact our office at:

Insolvency & Public Trustee’s Office

The URA Centre East Wing

45 Maxwell Road, #06-11

Singapore 069118

Tel: (+65) 6325 1500

Fax: (+65) 6325 1417

E-mail: ipto_enquiry@ipto.gov.sg

Information for bankrupts

Minlaw FAQs on Individual Insolvency