Sauvegarde, redressement, liquidation: what each one means
French insolvency proceedings (procédures collectives) bring together all the creditors of a company in difficulty under the supervision of the court. There are three:
- Sauvegarde (safeguard): requested by a company that is not yet unable to pay its debts but faces difficulties it cannot overcome alone. It aims at a plan that lets the business continue.
- Redressement judiciaire (court-supervised recovery): opened for a company that has stopped paying, meaning it can no longer meet its due debts from its available resources. The manager must apply for it within 45 days of the payment stoppage at the latest. The aim is to keep the business and jobs going and to settle the debts (see the page Redressement judiciaire d'une société, in French).
- Liquidation judiciaire (court-ordered liquidation): opened for a company that has stopped paying and whose recovery is clearly impossible. A liquidator sells the assets to pay the creditors, and the activity stops, unless the court decides on a temporary continuation (see the page Liquidation judiciaire d'une société, in French).
One procedure can follow another: a redressement can be converted into a liquidation, or end in a plan. The mandat ad hoc and the conciliation, which are out-of-court procedures, are confidential: they are not publicly announced.
What it changes for a supplier or a customer
- Your unpaid invoices: to be paid in the procedure, a creditor must declare its claim to the judicial representative or the liquidator within 2 months of the publication of the opening judgment (see the page Déclarer ses créances, in French). After that deadline, the claim may not be taken into account.
- Your upcoming deliveries: carrying on delivering to a customer in liquidation means risking not being paid. The fate of ongoing contracts depends on the decisions of the administrator or the liquidator.
- Your purchases: a supplier in difficulty can stop delivering overnight. It is better to know early so you can plan a replacement.
- Your deposits: a deposit paid to a company that enters liquidation becomes a claim like any other.
In all these cases, timing counts: learning two months later that a procedure was opened is often too late to declare a claim or suspend deliveries.
The signals to watch
- Open insolvency proceedings: sauvegarde, redressement or liquidation, with the nature and date of the latest judgment;
- the closure of the company, which can follow the closing of a liquidation;
- a dissolution or voluntary liquidation under way, decided by the partners outside any insolvency procedure;
- a sudden change of address or name, which deserves a check;
- in the United Kingdom, overdue annual accounts or a proposed strike-off.
None of these signals replaces your own assessment of the risk: late payments, reminders and unusual requests for extra time remain valuable indicators that only you know.
With Companies: the situation in one call, changes as alerts
The signals block of the company record returns the list of current signals, empty if there are none:
curl "https://companies.jsonpage.com/v2/companies/FR-552100554?include=signals" \
-H "X-API-Key: $COMPANIES_API_KEY"Each signal contains a code, a start date (since) when it is known, and a detail:
| Signal | Meaning | Countries |
|---|---|---|
insolvency_proceedings | Insolvency proceedings under way: in France, sauvegarde, redressement or liquidation judiciaire, with the detail giving the latest judgment | France, Belgium, United Kingdom |
liquidation | Dissolution or liquidation under way, outside bankruptcy | Belgium, Switzerland |
closed | Company closed or dissolved | France, Belgium, Switzerland, United Kingdom |
In France, the legal_events block adds the company's latest legal notices (insolvency proceedings, strike-offs, sales), each with the nature and date of the judgment and a link to the official notice.
To avoid asking the question again, add your customers and suppliers to monitoring with PUT /v2/monitors/{id}, or from your account area. Each change becomes an event: appearance of a signal (signal.added), status change, new legal notice, change of address or name. You receive it on your signed webhook, by e-mail (immediate or grouped alerts) and in the dashboard. Monitoring is included in every plan: 2 companies with the free account, 1,000 with Standard, 10,000 with Pro.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between redressement and liquidation judiciaire?+
Both assume a company that has stopped paying its debts. Redressement aims to keep the business going through a plan; liquidation is opened when recovery is clearly impossible, and leads to the sale of assets and the end of the activity.
How long do I have to declare my claim?+
Two months from the publication of the opening judgment, to the judicial representative or the liquidator. Hence the value of being warned quickly.
Is a company in liquidation judiciaire already closed?+
Not necessarily. The company exists until the liquidation is closed, and the court may authorise a temporary continuation of the activity. With Companies, it generally stays active, with the insolvency_proceedings signal, until its closure.
Does a conciliation appear in the signals?+
No. The mandat ad hoc and the conciliation are confidential procedures: they are not published and therefore appear in no signal.
How do I get warned if a customer enters insolvency proceedings?+
Add it to Companies monitoring: the appearance of the insolvency_proceedings signal or a new legal notice is sent to you by webhook and by e-mail.
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