I’m considering doing a project for my boss to suggest that we start doing some basic things in the event of customer bankruptcies to collect some portion. The likelihood that we’d collect much is pretty small but from what I recall of the bankruptcy process it wouldn’t take that much effort on our part to put in a claim. Her stumbling block is going to be costs versus returns. Are there any sites or good sources of information on percentages of unsecured claims which yield any payment under the various chapters of bankruptcy? I realize this is sort of a nebulous request but I’m not sure how better to phrase it. A google search under such things as “bankruptcy statistics” yields waaaaay too many hits. Anyone know a quick and dirty link?
IANAL, but…
I’m not sure how much luck you’ll have finding statistics on payments for unsecured claims. The American Bankruptcy Institute (abiworld.org) keeps stats, but primarily on filing numbers, and that’s about all that anyone keeps, on line at least.
Filing a claim is easy- one page to fill out, attach any supporting documents, mail it in, and wait. The cost is paper and postage (but some courts accept claims electronically), and the time to do whatever research is necessary for your numbers and supporting documents.
Assuming you’re talking about consumer bankruptcies- the majority are Chapter 7s, and the majority of those are No Asset, meaning there won’t be any money distributed. If there are assets, the return to unsecured creditors is usually quite a bit less than 100% of the claim, but unsecureds do sometimes get paid in full.
Best bet is probably this: file a claim anytime you’re notified of Chapter 11, 12, or 13 filings. For a Chapter 7, if there are assets found, they’ll notify you of the deadline. If you get no such notice, don’t bother.
YMMV, of course…