Just Been Served a Statutory Demand in Singapore? Your First 7 Days

Short answer: First work out who the demand is addressed to. A demand on a company gives it 3 weeks to pay, secure or compound before the creditor can rely on it to apply for winding up. A demand on you personally gives you 14 days to apply to set it aside and 21 days before bankruptcy can follow.

If you have just been served with a statutory demand in Singapore, the next seven days decide how much room you keep. A statutory demand is a formal written demand for payment that, if ignored, allows the creditor to presume that the debtor cannot pay its debts and to start winding-up proceedings against a company or bankruptcy proceedings against an individual. This guide is a practical action plan for the person on the receiving end: which regime applies, which dates to diarise, what papers to pull together, and when a lawyer needs to step in.

Raffles Corporate Services works with a panel of experienced Singapore law firms who offer cost-effective and efficient legal service and advice. This article is general information only and is not legal advice.

What does it mean to be served with a statutory demand in Singapore?

Being served with a statutory demand in Singapore means a creditor has started the formal step that lets it treat you as unable to pay if you do nothing. It is not a court order and not a judgment, but it has real consequences once the time limits run out.

The demand does not prove that you owe the money, but it shifts the burden. A company that does not respond within 3 weeks is deemed unable to pay its debts, a ground for winding up under IRDA s 125(1)(e). An individual who neither complies nor applies to set aside within 21 days is presumed unable to pay.

If you are the creditor rather than the recipient, our guide on using a statutory demand as the first step before a winding-up petition covers that side.

Is the demand against your company or against you personally?

Check the name of the debtor on the first page. The two regimes have different thresholds, deadlines and ways of challenging the demand.

A director who signed a personal guarantee can receive both demands for the same underlying debt. Treat them as two separate files with two separate calendars.

The sources are short. IRDA s 125(2)(a) governs demands on companies. For individuals, IRDA s 312(a) creates the presumption after 21 days, s 314 allows an expedited bankruptcy application within the 21 days where the debtor’s property is at serious risk of being significantly diminished, and the Personal Insolvency Rules 2020 set the form of the demand (r 64, Form PIR-2), service (r 66), the set-aside application (r 67) and its grounds (r 68). On the company side, the High Court in Aryan (SEA) Pte Ltd v Pure Group (Singapore) Pte Ltd [2025] SGHC 99 (unreported) agreed there is no provision for a company to set aside a statutory demand; the company instead applies for an injunction, a procedure governed by the Rules of Court 2021, Order 13 rule 1.

What should you do on each of the first 7 days?

Use the first week to lock in dates, test the debt and choose a response, so that any court application is filed well before the deadline rather than on it.

1. Day 1: record the date and manner of service. Note when and how the demand reached you and keep the envelope. For an individual, the date the demand came into your hands must be stated in any set-aside affidavit (r 67(5)(a)).
2. Day 1: diarise every deadline. For a company, mark the end of 3 weeks from service. For an individual, mark day 14 (set-aside deadline) and day 21 (compliance deadline). Have your lawyer confirm the exact dates, because service by alternative means can shift the deemed date of service.
3. Day 2: check the demand itself. For an individual, a demand must state the actual amount accrued, separately identify interest, penalties and charges with the rate and period, state how the debt arises, disclose any security the creditor holds, and be dated and signed (r 64). For a company, check the amount exceeds S$15,000 and is actually due now.
4. Day 2 to 3: test the debt against your records. Pull the contract, invoices, delivery records, correspondence and ledger. Ask: was the work done, was it accepted, were there defects, have part payments been credited, and do you have a claim against the creditor that offsets the sum?
5. Day 3: brief the board. For a company, tell the other directors and record the decision on how to respond in a board resolution.
6. Day 4 to 5: decide pay, secure, compound or dispute. If the debt is owed and you can pay, pay and get written confirmation. If you can pay over time, propose terms in writing. If the debt is disputed, instruct a lawyer now.
7. Day 5 to 7: get the lawyer moving. For an individual disputing the debt, the set-aside application and affidavit must be filed together and served on the creditor within 3 days of filing (r 67(6)). For a company, the lawyer writes to the creditor setting out the dispute and asking for an undertaking not to file a winding-up application, and prepares the injunction application if no undertaking is given.

Can you set aside a statutory demand in Singapore, and when must you apply?

An individual can apply to set aside within 14 days of service (21 days if served outside Singapore). A company has no equivalent procedure and must instead seek an injunction.

For individuals, the court must set aside the demand under r 68(2) if, among other grounds, the debtor appears to have a valid counterclaim, set-off or cross demand equal to or exceeding the debt; the debt is disputed on grounds that appear substantial; the creditor holds security and either did not disclose it or its value equals or exceeds the debt; or the demand does not comply with r 64 and this causes substantial injustice. Filing the application stops the time for complying with the demand from running, unless the court orders otherwise (r 67(4)). If you miss the 14 days, the court may allow an extension of time on your application (r 67(3)). The Singapore Courts guide on responding to a statutory demand sets out the filing steps.

For companies, the court has long restrained creditors from presenting a winding-up application where the debt is disputed on substantial and bona fide grounds, or where the company has a serious cross-claim equal to or exceeding the debt: Metalform Asia Pte Ltd v Holland Leedon Pte Ltd [2007] 2 SLR(R) 268, as summarised in Aryan v Pure Group. Where the dispute is covered by an arbitration agreement, the Court of Appeal in AnAn Group (Singapore) Pte Ltd v VTB Bank (Public Joint Stock Co) [2020] 1 SLR 1158 applied a lower prima facie standard. An offer to secure the claim can also justify an injunction: BNP Paribas v Jurong Shipyard Pte Ltd [2009] 2 SLR(R) 949. We explain the company application in more detail in how a company challenges a statutory demand in court and the standards in disputed debts and winding-up applications.

All court applications are conducted by a Singapore Advocate and Solicitor (or by an individual acting in person, in the case of personal bankruptcy matters). If you need one, speak to a lawyer early in the week, not on the last day.

What documents should you gather?

Collect anything that shows what was agreed, what was delivered, what was paid and what is disputed. Your lawyer will need these to judge whether the dispute is substantial.

How long does it take and what does it cost?

The deadlines are short and fixed by law; the legal costs depend on whether the matter settles or goes to a contested hearing.

The S$40 and S$1 per page figures come from the Third Schedule to the Personal Insolvency Rules 2020. Solicitors’ fees vary with the size of the dispute, the evidence and whether there is a hearing, so the panel law firm quotes once it has seen the papers.

What does the company secretary prepare and what does the solicitor file?

The company secretary pulls together the company records and resolutions; the solicitor assesses the dispute and files and argues any court application.

Raffles Corporate Services, as company secretary or corporate service provider, can typically help with:

• Confirming the registered office details and when the demand was received there.
• Extracting the register of directors and constitution to show who can authorise the response.
• Drafting the directors’ resolution to instruct solicitors, approve payment or offer security.
• Producing the ledger, statements of account and management accounts, and keeping the minute book in order.

The solicitor reviews the merits, writes to the creditor, prepares the affidavit and originating application, files it through eLitigation and appears at the hearing. RCS does not give legal advice and does not act in court. If the creditor is entitled to the money and the company cannot pay, our guide on what happens when a Singapore company cannot repay its debts explains the options.

What happens after the court decides?

If an individual’s set-aside application succeeds, the demand becomes invalid and the creditor cannot rely on it for a bankruptcy application; if it fails, the demand stands and the creditor may proceed.

The Singapore Courts guide notes that where a demand is set aside only because of defects in its form or content, the creditor may serve a fresh demand. For companies, an injunction stops the creditor from presenting a winding-up application on that debt while the dispute is resolved. If no injunction is sought and the 3 weeks pass, the creditor may file a winding-up application; our article on restraining a winding-up petition as an abuse of process covers that stage. A statutory demand does not by itself trigger any ACRA filing, but keep the resolutions and correspondence with the company’s records.

What are the most common mistakes?

Most problems come from treating the demand as an ordinary letter of demand, or from waiting until the deadline is almost up.

• Ignoring the demand because the debt is disputed. Silence simply lets the time limits run; the Singapore Courts guide warns that a creditor may file even if the debtor refuses to accept or respond.
• Counting from the wrong date. Time runs from service, not from when someone opened the post.
• Paying part of the debt without written terms agreed with the creditor.

To keep track of statutory deadlines more generally, see our free tools for Singapore companies.

Frequently asked questions

Does a statutory demand expire?

For individuals, yes in effect: a creditor cannot base a bankruptcy application on a statutory demand served more than 4 months earlier (Personal Insolvency Rules 2020, r 73(2)(b)). IRDA s 125(2)(a), which governs demands on companies, sets no equivalent time limit in its text, so a company should not assume an old demand has lapsed.

Is it really 21 days for a statutory demand against a company?

The Act says 3 weeks after service, which is 21 days. Within that time the company must pay the sum, or secure or compound for it to the creditor’s reasonable satisfaction.

Can a company apply to set aside a statutory demand?

Not under an express statutory procedure. The High Court in Aryan v Pure Group [2025] SGHC 99 agreed that a company’s remedy is an injunction restraining the creditor from presenting a winding-up application where the debt is disputed.

What if the statutory demand is for S$15,000 or less?

A company demand under s 125(2)(a) needs a debt exceeding S$15,000; a bankruptcy application needs debts of not less than S$15,000. Below that, the creditor can still sue in the ordinary way.

I missed the 14-day deadline to set aside. Is it too late?

Not necessarily. The court may grant an extension of time on your application under r 67(3), and the request can be included in the set-aside application. Act at once.

Can the creditor apply for bankruptcy before 21 days?

Yes, in limited cases. Under IRDA s 314, an expedited application is possible if there is a serious possibility that the debtor’s property, or its value, will be significantly diminished during the 21 days.

Last reviewed: 11 October 2026. The Editorial Team, Raffles Corporate Services.