Customer in preventive composition with creditors: what to do about receivables and new supplies

In short: if a customer files an application for preventive composition with creditors, the receivables you had before remain within the procedure and, upon approval, the composition is binding on you too (art. 117 CCII). Supplies made after the application, if legally carried out, are instead pre-deductible claims (arts. 6 and 46 CCII). Before shipping again, check the procedure and review payments.

What happens to the receivables you had before the application for composition?

They become prior claims: they will be paid according to the composition proposal, if approved, and if the customer has requested protective measures you cannot start enforcement actions to collect them. The approved composition is binding on all creditors whose claims predate the publication of the application in the Companies Register (art. 117, paragraph 1, CCII).

Regulations cited: Business Crisis and Insolvency Code (CCII, Legislative Decree 14/2019), text in force on Normattiva (the official Italian legislation database) in October 2026.

• Enforcement actions blocked: if the debtor requests it in the application, from its publication in the Companies Register creditors may not begin or continue enforcement and precautionary actions (art. 54, paragraph 2).
• Personal guarantees preserved: you retain your rights against the debtor's guarantors (fideiussori), co-obligors and obligors by way of recourse (art. 117, paragraph 1).
• Communications via PEC (certified email): the judicial commissioner sends creditors the plan, the proposal, the opening decree and the voting dates (art. 104, paragraph 2).
• Essential suppliers: in continuity, the debtor may ask the court to pay prior claims for supplies that an independent professional certifies as essential (art. 100, paragraph 1). It is the debtor's option, not your right.

Are new supplies to a customer in composition paid before the others?

Yes, in the sense of pre-deductibility: claims arising after the application for access, for the management of the assets and the continuation of the business, are pre-deductible (art. 6, paragraph 1, letter d, CCII). This means priority over prior creditors, not the certainty of being paid.

Until approval, the debtor manages the company under the supervision of the judicial commissioner (art. 94, paragraph 1). Claims of third parties arising from acts legally carried out by the debtor are pre-deductible (art. 46, paragraph 4): extraordinary acts of administration require the court's authorisation (art. 46, paragraph 1) or, after opening, that of the delegated judge (art. 94, paragraph 2). For a supply outside the ordinary course, ask whether it is authorised.

Can you stop supplying or terminate an ongoing contract?

Not merely because of the application. Contracts not yet fully performed by both parties continue during the composition, and contrary agreements are ineffective (art. 97, paragraph 1, CCII). It is the debtor who can ask the court for authorisation to suspend or terminate them.

Situation	What the CCII provides	Article
Ongoing contract	Continues; contrary agreements ineffective	art. 97, par. 1
Contract terminated or suspended at the debtor's request	Compensation paid as a prior unsecured claim; claims arising from the contract after publication of the application and before notification are pre-deductible	art. 97, par. 11
Composition in business continuity	You cannot refuse performance, terminate, anticipate the due date or modify the contract to the customer's detriment merely because the application was filed	art. 94-bis, par. 1
Essential contract, in continuity with protective measures granted	You cannot refuse performance merely for non-payment of prior claims; supplies whose interruption would prevent the continuation of the business are also essential	art. 94-bis, par. 2

These rules concern ongoing contracts. For a new order, or to understand whether your contract is "essential", a lawyer is needed for the specific case.

And if the customer is in negotiated settlement of the crisis (composizione negoziata)?

The negotiated settlement starts from an application for the appointment of an independent expert, filed on the online platform (art. 17 CCII). If the entrepreneur requests protective measures, the request is published in the Companies Register together with the expert's acceptance (art. 18, paragraph 1).

• Actions and pre-emptive rights: creditors may not acquire pre-emptive rights not agreed, nor begin or continue enforcement and precautionary actions on the assets (art. 18, paragraph 3).
• Pending contracts: you may not, unilaterally, refuse performance, terminate, anticipate the due date or modify them to the entrepreneur's detriment merely for non-payment of prior claims; you may suspend performance from publication until the measures are confirmed (art. 18, paragraph 5).

Art. 17 does not, however, provide for the registration in the Companies Register of the application for the expert's appointment as such.

How to know whether a customer is in preventive composition?

From the Companies Register: the clerk communicates the application for composition by the day after filing, and the registration is carried out by the following day (art. 40, paragraph 3, CCII). For this reason the application appears in the customer's company register extract.

Be wary of the application "with reservation" (con riserva): the court grants a period of between thirty and sixty days to file the proposal and plan (art. 44, paragraph 1, letter a). You may therefore find the application before a plan exists to read. For the signals that often precede a procedure, see the insolvency signals of a customer.

How to structure subsequent supplies to a customer in composition?

With prudent criteria: reduce open exposure, tie deliveries to payments, request guarantees and document the dates of each supply. These are standard contractual tools, not legal advice: the decision remains yours and, on the specific case, your lawyer's.

• Advance payment or payment on delivery for new orders.
• Split deliveries, each unlocked by payment of the previous one.
• Third-party guarantees, such as a surety (fideiussione): rights against guarantors remain intact even with an approved composition (art. 117, paragraph 1).
• Documented dates: invoices and transport documents separate the prior claim from the one arising after publication of the application.

If the conditions are fixed in a framework agreement, see how to revoke the credit line to an insolvent customer, bearing in mind the limits on pending contracts.

What does Veryfy show about a customer in insolvency proceedings?

The micro-product Negative items and insolvency proceedings (€5.90) indicates whether insolvency proceedings recorded against the company exist and whether it is involved in a proceeding of a third party, together with protests, with the chamber-of-commerce source and the date of the check. It is the quick check to make before accepting a new order.

• What it tells you: the presence of the item, as of a date. It is not instant: the result also arrives by email.
• What it does not tell you: the type of procedure (composition, judicial liquidation or other), its stage or its outcome. For this, the company register extract and your lawyer are needed.
• €19 report: the same item appears among the warning signals, alongside financial statements, beneficial owner, shareholders and directors and estimated operating credit line.

Differences between the data: protests, adverse records and insolvency proceedings. If a supplier of yours is in crisis, see strategic supplier in crisis.