The Risks of Surrendering Business Assets to the Landlord Before Liquidation. It’s becoming increasingly common for business owners when they get themselves into financial trouble to close the doors and walk away. From the landlord’s perspective this can be ideal as they get left with a site that may be easier to lease due to existing fixtures and fittings for a similar type of business. They may have had to sacrifice some unpaid rent and a personal guarantee to gain control of the assets. From the director’s perspective they often see this as a solution where they can remove an ongoing obligation for the rest of the lease term and get out of a personal guarantee. The issues arises when…

Insolvency by the Numbers #59: NZ Insolvency Statistics October 2025 We take a look at what happened in the insolvency figures during October 2025 when compared with the last few years for personal and corporate insolvency. Winding Up Applications Winding up applications for October 2025 took a slight drop of 1 application from last months highs to remain the 2nd highest they have been in the last 5 years, showing we will indeed be in for a big end to the year for creditor enforced liquidations and liquidations overall. 2025 continues to easily exceed 2024 in total numbers and looks on track to exceed 1,200 applications with 2 months left to run in the year. The ongoing strong levels of…

What Documents Are Creditors Entitled to in a Liquidation? When a company goes into liquidation, creditors have certain legal rights to access documents for the purpose of helping stakeholders understand what’s happening, assess their chances of seeing a recovery on what they are entitled to, and to hold insolvency practitioners accountable when dealing with the assets of the company. What documents can creditors see? Creditors entitlements to documents in a liquidation are set out across a number of acts, these include the Companies Act, Liquidation Regulations, Insolvency Practitioners Regulations and Companies (Reporting by Insolvency Practitioners) Regulations. Creditors are entitled to: Notice of appointment confirmation that the company has entered liquidation including date and time, details of who made the appointment…

Employee Claims in Liquidation: How are Related Party Employee Claims Treated? When a company enters liquidation, one of the liquidator’s key responsibilities is to assess and distribute the company’s remaining assets to creditors in accordance with the Companies Act 1993. Among the creditors, employees are granted preferential status for outstanding wages, holiday pay and redundancy if they are entitled to it under their employment agreement. The situation becomes more complex when the employee is related to a director of the company. Normal Treatment of Employee Claims in Liquidation Under Schedule 7 of the Companies Act 1993, employees are entitled to preferential claims for: Wages and salaries (including commissions and piecework) earned in the four months prior to liquidation. Holiday pay…

We take a look at what happened with the NZ insolvency figures during September 2025 when compared with the previous years for personal and corporate insolvency. Winding Up Applications Winding up applications for September 2025 were the highest they have been in the last 5 years hinting as a big end to the year for creditor enforced liquidations and liquidations overall. 2025 continues to easily exceed 2024 in total numbers and looks on track to exceed 1,200 applications. The continued growth in winding up applications reinforces that the market remains under pressure and creditors continue to default on payments and are facing serious collection issues. IRD maintains the pressure it has been putting on delinquent companies to catch up on…

To have a meaningful discussion and put a plan in place, it helps to have the important information ahead of time. This allows us to give you a steer on your options and advise on what will likely get the best outcome for stakeholders. So, what do we look for and why? Creditor List To understand the level of company debt and the class of each creditor. If there are secured creditors, we’ll want to know what assets they may be entitled to under a General Security Agreement (GSA) or Purchase Money Security Interest (PMSI), and whether any assets need to be returned to suppliers with valid claims. If we look to trade the business on it is important to…

We take a look at what happened in the insolvency figures during August 2025 when compared with the last few years for personal and corporate insolvency. Winding Up Applications Winding up applications for August 2025 were slightly above last years August, with just one advertised winding up application more. Overall, 2025 continues to exceed 2024. Looking at this on a month by month bases we can see in the year to date that this excess was driven by the higher January, February and March we saw at the start of the year, traditionally these have been slower months. IRD smashed our 93 of the 119 applications for the month, that’s a huge 78.15%, well above the long term average of…

Unemployment is rising Inflation is nudging the top of the Reserve Bank’s target band The housing market is flat The US tariffs continue to yo-yo The OCR didn’t drop at the last announcement Its tough out there, and people know it We take a look at what happened in the insolvency figures during July 2025 when compared with the last few years for personal and corporate insolvency. Winding Up Applications Tipping into the back half of the year winding up applications are almost back in triple digits and expected to continue to track up further. Figures were recently released from an Official Information Act request to the IRD showing more than $1.4 billion in unpaid taxes from the 2025 tax…

Where do you look for public notices? If your answer is the NZ Herald, The Post or another regional paper, you’re not alone but you might miss the bigger picture. We publish public notices every week for new insolvency appointments. It’s not optional, it’s a legal requirement under the Companies Act 1993 and other relevant legislation depending on the type of appointment. These notices serve an important purpose: they inform creditors, shareholders, and other stakeholders about key developments like: New insolvency appointments Opportunities to file claims in insolvency engagements, corporate and personal Meetings of creditors Watershed meetings Creditors taking enforcement action against companies and individuals Notices to end appointments These notices are a critical part of the insolvency process. They…

Suppliers face a real challenge when trying to assess a potential customers’ IRD debt before they set up an account and provide them with credit. IRD debt levels are not publicly available information, so what can you do to protect yourself? Why IRD Debt Is Hard to Detect? IRD debt is considered confidential and is not listed on public registers like the Companies Office unless the IRD has issued a statutory demand and formal recovery actions like liquidation proceedings have commenced. Because of this an IRD debt may not necessarily appear on a traditional credit check. This lack of transparency means suppliers must rely on indirect methods to assess risk. Warning Signs a Company May Have IRD Debt Poor Communication…

Insolvency by the Numbers #55: NZ Insolvency Statistics June 2025 Below we outline the insolvency figures for June 2025 when compared with the last few years across personal and corporate insolvency. Winding Up Applications As we mark the half way point for the year the insolvency figures follow their normal trend of a slight drop before heading upwards towards Christmas, this is in part driven by people pushing to get things done in the 2nd half of the year and a lack of public holidays delaying mattes. While not back into the triple figures seen at the start of the year the June figures were inline with what was expected for winding up applications. Creditors, particularly IRD, continue to apply…

When the IRD Comes Knocking: What Company Directors Need to Know No business owner wants to see a letter from the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) land on their desk especially when the business is already under financial pressure. But whether it’s a late payment notice, an audit notification, or a formal demand, how you respond can have serious implications for your company and you personally as a director. Here’s what to know when the IRD comes knocking, and how early engagement with a licensed insolvency practitioner can help protect your business, assets, and reputation. Why IRD Debt Matters More Than Most IRD isn’t just another creditor. It has stronger enforcement powers than most including the ability to: Garnish funds directly…