Bank Account Frozen? Lifting Prejudgment Attachments.

A prejudgment attachment is the nuclear option in Dutch law. At the push of a button, a creditor – often without your knowledge and without any court judgment – can freeze your bank accounts or place a lien on your real estate.

For a business, this is fatal. Salaries cannot be paid, suppliers are left waiting, and your reputation suffers immediate damage. The bank often blocks the entire credit facility. You are trapped.

The Counterattack: Summary Proceedings to Lift the Attachment

In the Netherlands, attachments are relatively easy to obtain. However, the law provides a powerful counterweight: summary proceedings to lift the attachment. We summon the creditor before the interim relief judge on an ultra-short timeline (sometimes within days).

We demand the attachment be lifted on the following grounds:

• Prima facie unfounded: The claim for which the attachment was obtained is legally unsound or insufficiently substantiated.
• Unnecessarily onerous: An attachment has been placed on a multi-million pound property for a claim of € 20,000. This is disproportionate. We demand substitute security (e.g. a bank guarantee) or the lifting of the attachment.
• Balance of interests: Your interest in being able to conduct business (and avoid insolvency) outweighs the creditor's interest in having security.

Substitute Security

If we cannot get the attachment lifted outright because the underlying claim does have merit, we force a solution through substitute security (art. 6:51 of the Dutch Civil Code). You deposit the amount into an escrow account or provide a bank guarantee. The creditor must then lift the attachment. After all, their security is preserved, but you regain your bank account and freedom to operate.