You are in complete control of your financial situation, you don’t owe anything and if you do, you pay it off properly. The insolvency record is therefore something you are not interested in at all. But maybe it should. It is a very practical tool that can be useful to all of us. Let’s talk about why you should be interested in it, what you can find in it and how to search it. We will also address common myths and questions associated with the index.
“I borrowed from the bank. Is that why I’m on the debtors’ register?”
“A friend I did business with claims I owe him money and has taken me to court. Now he’s going to get me in trouble and on the insolvency register.”
The term “debtors’ register” is quite generic and the public tends to refer to various types of registers, including insolvency registers. In fact, there are several registers dealing with some form of debt and it is always necessary to distinguish which one is being referred to. In general, however, not all ‘debts’ and not all ‘debtors’ are entered in the insolvency register. So you can safely take out a consumer loan, mortgage or other similar loan and as an insolvency registry the justice will not record these loans.
Similarly, if there is a normal court proceeding in which a sum of money is being recovered, it is not an insolvency proceeding that would be entered in the Insolvency Register. Neither is an execution, which is also sometimes confused with insolvency. Enforcement is the judicial recovery of a specific payment that the debtor does not want to voluntarily repay, although his assets would be sufficient to meet the debt. Executions are entered in the Central Register of Executions.
The Insolvency Register exclusively collects records of entities within the Czech Republic that are undergoing so-called insolvency proceedings. This is a special type of court proceeding for cases where someone has, in the vernacular, grown over their head with debts and is therefore unable to meet their financial obligations for a long period of time. The insolvency procedure allows the debtor’s debts to be settled, so that he or she can start with a clean slate and at least partially pay off creditors’ claims.
For creditors, the insolvency register is a key source of information on the progress of insolvency proceedings. It allows them to keep track of important deadlines, such as the deadline for filing a claim in insolvency proceedings. Thanks to the transparency of the register, it is also possible to know if and when it will be possible to recover the amounts claimed. Creditors can thus better prepare for negotiations with the insolvency administrator or, where appropriate, plan other steps to secure their claims.
Tip: Do you have unpaid invoices on your desk? According to IPSOS, over 89% of businesses have dealt with a similar problem. And one in five have even experienced a situation where their invoice was not paid at all. Have you been in a similar situation? We’ll advise you on how to deal with overdue debts so that you can get your money back as soon as possible. What is the procedure and what to look out for? That’s what we’ll focus on in today’s article.
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In the first half of 2021, for example, 13,153 new insolvency petitions were filed in the Czech Republic. Surprisingly, this is a 13% drop compared to the same period last year, despite the ongoing covide and its significant impact on the economy.
The Insolvency Register is managed and operated by the Ministry of Justice. The Justice website provides the Insolvency Register free of charge and can be found at https://isir.justice.cz.
One of the main advantages of the justice.cz insolvency register is its easy accessibility and free search. On the justice.cz insolvency register you can easily find all the information you need, not only about current proceedings but also about closed cases, which are stored there for five years. Thanks to this, you can check the financial history of both natural and legal persons at any time and take responsible decisions, whether you are a businessman, a creditor or an ordinary citizen.
Here you will find records of individuals (business and non-business) and legal entities. For each registered person, there is information about the person itself (that is, depending on the nature of the entity, ID number, registered office, birth number, residence), as well as the date and reason for initiating insolvency proceedings.
One file is kept for each debtor in which they are entered:
Tip: Other registers operated by other public or private entities should be distinguished from the insolvency register. The most important of these are the aforementioned Central Register of Executions, operated by the Chamber of Executors and SOLUS, where information on unpaid claims is shared between different economic sectors. These include, for example, banks, building societies, non-bank financial institutions, telecommunications service providers and energy distributors.
“I’m not a businessman. Why do I need an insolvency register?”
The fact that you are not a businessman and do not sign traditional business contracts does not mean that you do not conclude any “deals”. Every purchase on the internet, every order with a craftsman constitutes a contract and in some cases it is worthwhile to accompany them by consulting the insolvency register.
The Insolvency Register is a valuable tool not only for creditors, debtors and insolvency practitioners, but also for employers, entrepreneurs, landlords and generally anyone entering into any legal relationship with persons they do not know intimately.
For example, employers sometimes screen job applicants. Such “vetting” can be useful if they want to entrust a person with financial work, banking advice or financial management. They assume that a person who has not been able to manage his or her debts is generally not suitable for such work.
Similarly, it is a good idea for anyone to consult the insolvency register if they wish to enter into a sale or purchase from another person of, for example, a property without legal defects. But caution pays off even for items much less expensive than buying a home.
Tip: We have also covered a similar topic in the article Buying a flat in foreclosure.
“I need to find who all “my” debtor owes. Can I find it in the register?”
If the debtor has filed an insolvency petition, he is obliged by law to list all creditors to whom he owes money. So this information can be found in the register. A plurality (i.e. at least two) of creditors is also a condition for opening proceedings, so at least one other creditor exists. If one of the creditors has filed a petition, it depends on which other creditors have filed their claims.
Searching the register is easy if you know some basic information about the person you want to check. For example, just enter the name and surname, the birth number, and in the case of legal persons, the company registration number or the company name.
If you can find the person in the register, you can open their file (or the online version of the file, which may not be exactly the same as the physical file) and see a list of the filings and orders relating to their case. For each such record, you can see when it was made and you can also click on the full text of the record.
Records are kept in the register not only during the insolvency proceedings but also for five years afterwards. This period cannot be shortened or waived in any way. Only the insolvency court has the power to delete them.
The insolvency register is a useful tool not only for entrepreneurs and creditors but also for ordinary citizens. It allows you to get an overview of the financial situation of persons or companies with whom you are planning business or other contractual relations. Thanks to the transparency of the register, you can avoid the risk of cooperating with debtors in insolvency, verify the credibility of your business partners or secure your claims by filing timely in the proceedings. Whether you are an employer, a landlord or just buy services, checking the insolvency register can save you a lot of trouble. The Justice website offers the insolvency register free of charge. You can find it simply by typing the keyword “justice insolvency register” into a search engine.
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