Business finance during or after a Part IX debt agreement

Understanding where you stand

A Part IX debt agreement is a legally binding arrangement between you and your creditors, set up under the Bankruptcy Act and administered by a registered debt agreement administrator. You agree to pay a set amount over time, and in return creditors can’t pursue you for the debts covered.

It’s often a sensible choice, and for many people it’s the responsible way through a hard period. But it is a formal insolvency arrangement, and lenders treat it that way.

How lenders view current versus completed agreements

Status	Typical lender view
Active, payments behind	Very difficult; most lenders decline
Active, payments up to date	Some specialist and secured lenders may consider
Completed recently	More lenders open, especially with security
Completed some time ago, clean since	Much wider range of options

Every lender has its own policy, and some will look at you more favourably than others. The direction is clear, though: completion and time both help.

Where the agreement shows up

• Your credit report, for a period after the agreement starts or ends. Check your reports to see exactly what’s listed and when.
• The National Personal Insolvency Index, a public register kept by the Australian Financial Security Authority.

Lenders will usually find it, so disclose it up front with the start date, the end date (or expected end date) and your payment status.

Routes that may work

• Property-secured lending gives the widest options. If you own property, a private first mortgage, second mortgage or caveat loan may be possible, from $20,000 to $5,000,000, subject to equity, exit and the lender’s policy on debt agreements.
• Specialist bad credit business lenders that assess insolvency history case by case.
• Equipment finance for essential business assets, with the asset as security.
• Unsecured cash-flow lending is less likely during an active agreement, but may open up once it’s completed and your statements are clean.

Before borrowing during an active agreement, check its terms and talk to your administrator. Taking on new debt could affect your ability to keep up the agreement payments.

Building your case

1. Gather evidence of payments made under the agreement.
2. Get a completion certificate, if finished, and check your credit file reflects it.
3. Write a brief explanation of what led to the agreement and what’s changed. See our guide to writing a letter of explanation.
4. Show stability: clean bank statements, current BAS, no new listings.
5. Keep the request modest and the purpose clear.

Our guide on borrowing after bankruptcy and insolvency also covers how timing affects options after a debt agreement.

Want to know whether your situation could work now? Send us a short enquiry.

Illustrative example: A café owner entered a debt agreement after a previous venture failed, and completed it eighteen months early with help from family. A year later, with clean statements and a growing new business, a specialist lender approved equipment finance for a coffee machine and refrigeration, after reviewing the completion certificate and her explanation.

Talking to your administrator before you borrow

If your debt agreement is still active, your administrator is an important first call. They can tell you whether your agreement includes any restrictions on new borrowing, how taking on new debt might affect your ability to meet your agreement payments, and what a lender is likely to ask them.

It’s also worth confirming:

• your current balance and the expected completion date,
• whether you’re up to date with payments,
• whether finishing early is possible and what that would involve,
• how completion will be recorded and how you’ll receive confirmation.

Some people choose to finish their agreement early, using savings or family help, before applying for business finance. If that’s an option for you, it can widen your choices considerably.

What a lender will ask about your agreement

Question	Why lenders ask
When did the agreement start and end?	Timing drives most lender policies
Were all payments made on time?	Shows discipline and reliability
What debts did it cover?	Business-related debts raise different questions from personal ones
What led to it?	Lenders want to understand the cause
What’s changed since?	Evidence the situation won’t repeat
Is there security available?	Property widens the options significantly

Having clear, short answers to each of these, ideally in writing, makes an application much smoother. A specialist lender reading a well-prepared file can often see past the agreement itself to the business you’re running now.

Key terms, in plain English

• Part IX debt agreement: a formal agreement under the Bankruptcy Act to repay creditors an agreed amount over time, administered by a registered administrator.
• Part X personal insolvency agreement: a more flexible formal arrangement, often used for larger debts.
• National Personal Insolvency Index (NPII): the public register of personal insolvencies kept by the Australian Financial Security Authority.
• Completion certificate: confirmation that your obligations under the agreement have been met.
• Administrator: the registered professional who manages the agreement and receives your payments.

You’ve done the hard part already

Keeping to a debt agreement takes discipline, and lenders who understand insolvency recognise that. There’s no credit check when you send us an enquiry, and your information isn’t fanned out to a list of lenders. A real person reads your situation and calls you. Please include whether your agreement is current or completed, with dates, so we can match you correctly. See if you qualify.