The estate may hold a claim against funds its payment provider never released.
When a card-accepting business fails, funds are often held back by its PSP, EMI or acquirer — a rolling reserve, a withheld settlement, a chargeback hold. JvHAM realises those claims for the estate, on a no-win-no-fee basis.
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The overlooked asset
Locked payment funds reflect business already transacted. They belong, in principle, to the merchant — but sit in a counterparty's custody when the business ceases. Because pursuing them is often uneconomical for the estate, they are frequently not pursued further. That is understandable. It is not always right.
Rolling reserve
A share of each transaction held as security against future chargebacks, often for six to eighteen months. For a high-turnover business, the accumulated reserve can be substantial.
Withheld settlements
Payout of already-processed transactions, frozen at the first sign of risk or on termination of the relationship.
Chargeback holds
Amounts reserved against pending or anticipated chargebacks.
How it works for the estate
- 01
Assess
We review the estate's payment relationships and identify held funds. No cost, no obligation.
- 02
Assign or mandate
The estate assigns or mandates the claim to JvHAM. Depending on the jurisdiction and the estate, this may require approval — a question to resolve on the facts of the case.
- 03
We pursue
We carry the work, the cross-border complexity and the cost. The estate takes no litigation risk.
- 04
The estate realises
On recovery, the estate receives its share — no recovery, no fee. In selected cases, the claim is instead acquired outright: a fixed price, paid at execution, allowing the estate to realise the asset and close the file.
For the mechanics behind these steps — the difference between assignment and mandate, and what decides which route applies — see how the assignment or mandate works.
Why an estate delegates
Cross-border
The counterparty and its regulator often sit in another jurisdiction, with their own terms and their own incentives not to pay out.
Specialist knowledge
Understanding which funds are held, on what basis and with what entitlement, calls for knowledge of payments regulation and settlement mechanics — not an estate's daily work.
No time or capital tied up
We carry both. The estate stays focused on winding up.
Immediate realisation available
A contingent recovery is not always the right shape for an estate. Where the file qualifies, outright acquisition by a specialist recovery fund the firm cooperates with converts the claim into a fixed, immediate realisation.
See where the money typically sits for the counterparty types and supervisory architecture behind the cross-border point above.
A first test
To gauge whether an estate might have such a claim at all, look for a few simple signs:
- The business accepted card payments
- There was a relationship with a PSP, EMI or acquirer
- A rolling reserve or security provision in the contract
- Payouts were interrupted before the business ceased
- Funds appear withheld or not fully reconciled
If several apply, it is worth a closer look — see the full checklist for what to look for on each point.
Written for practitioners.
Four notes on identifying, valuing and transferring a frozen-funds claim held by an estate.
- Sector primerFrozen PSP funds in insolvent estates: the asset class administrators often write off.
When a card-accepting business fails, its payment provider does not always let go of its money. A rolling reserve, a withheld settlement, a chargeback hold — these can survive the insolvency intact, and they are routinely left unclaimed.
7 min read - Practical guideHow the assignment or mandate of a PSP claim works.
Once an estate has identified a claim worth pursuing, the next question is practical: how is the right transferred, what does the estate commit to, and what does it retain?
8 min read - Sector primerWhere the money sits: a counterparty and jurisdiction map for insolvency practitioners.
The counterparty holding an estate’s frozen funds is rarely down the road. It is a payment institution, e-money institution or acquirer authorised somewhere else in the EEA or the UK, answerable to a regulator the practitioner has never dealt with.
7 min read - Practical guideCould this estate have a recoverable PSP claim? Five signs to look for.
Not every failed card-accepting business left money behind with its payment provider — but a surprising number did. Five signs, each checkable in the file you already have, can usually tell you within minutes whether it is worth a closer look.
7 min read
Realise value that might otherwise go unrecovered.
JvHAM (J. van Huuksloot Asset Management B.V.) specialises in the recovery of locked merchant funds from PSPs, EMIs, banks and acquirers across the EEA and the UK, on a no-win-no-fee basis. We work with insolvency practitioners and their advisers to realise claims that would otherwise risk going unrecovered.
This page is general information and does not constitute legal advice. The law on locked payment funds, the assignment of estate claims and requirements for approval varies between jurisdictions and between individual cases.