Find out whether another creditor has already filed
Check for existing proceedings before funding an application after an unanswered statutory demand.
Corporate Recovery Partners
01 / 06
Another creditor may be ahead of you
Your statutory demand has gone unanswered and you are ready to instruct a lawyer. Before paying for the next step, establish whether someone else has already started winding-up proceedings. Several suppliers can be chasing the same company without knowing what the others have done. Your decision should reflect the position now.
Imagine a scaffolding supplier owed money by a builder operating several projects under similar names. A notice mentioning the group's brand is passed around by subcontractors. That is a lead to check, not proof that the supplier's contracting company is the subject of an application. Match the legal name and ACN with the contract and demand.
The Federal Court's guide identifies a current ASIC extract as part of the pre-filing process, including checking for pending winding-up proceedings and an existing liquidation. Ask your lawyer to obtain the appropriate current information. An extract saved when you first opened the account may no longer describe the company's position.
Give your lawyer the notice, case details and any documents you have received. Ask what stage the other proceeding has reached and how it affects the available options. Do not assume another creditor's application recovers your invoice or that you should immediately fund a duplicate proceeding. Those are separate questions requiring advice.
Ask for an updated scope and estimate before authorising further work. Distinguish the cost of understanding the existing proceeding from any proposed participation or separate action. For the scaffolding supplier, the useful outcome is a reasoned instruction about its own position, rather than competing to be the creditor making the loudest threat.
Continue recording payments, correspondence and changes to the balance while the legal position is checked. Nominate one person to send updates to the lawyer so that new information is not spread across several inboxes. Revisit the instruction when circumstances change; a search is a dated piece of evidence, not a permanent assurance about the debtor.
