Vi-Jon Files Chapter 11 With No Trade Payables and $15M in Retailer Claims

Vi-Jon LLC filed for Chapter 11 on August 2, 2026 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 26-11216) to channel 367 pending talc personal injury claims into a settlement trust funded with $25 million in cash.

Why it matters: Your Vi-Jon exposure may sit with a non-debtor affiliate outside the Chapter 11 case. Confirm which entity owes you.

Vi-Jon scheduled $37 million in claims and estimated up to $1 billion in liabilities

The liability range Vi-Jon checked on its petition and the obligations it actually scheduled describe two different companies.

• Vi-Jon reported $1 million to $10 million in assets against a $500 million to $1 billion liability range, a gap that comes entirely from contingent and unliquidated tort claims.
• The debtor’s scheduled unsecured obligations total roughly $37 million: about $20 million in talc settlements and judgments, about $15 million in asserted retailer indemnification claims, and about $2 million in everything else.
• A revised 2026 NERA projection cited in the case record puts nominal talc exposure at $720 million, against a trust funded with $25 million in cash plus insurance rights, a $1 million note, and a contingent fee of up to $20 million.

Vi-Jon’s suppliers contract with non-debtor affiliates, not the debtor

Vi-Jon reported no accrued outstanding third-party trade payables as of the petition date because its affiliates, not the debtor, hold the vendor contracts.

• Non-debtor affiliates supply Vi-Jon’s sourcing, packaging, warehousing, logistics, and accounting under shared services agreements, then settle the cost through intercompany accounts.
• Nice-Pak co-manufactures for Vi-Jon under a $400,000 annual SG&A fee plus variable charges, and Vivos provides administrative services for about $572,000 a year.
• Suppliers carrying receivables from Emprise Group entities are creditors of those affiliates rather than of the debtor, and the automatic stay does not by itself reach a non-debtor, though mass-tort debtors frequently ask the court to extend that protection to affiliates.

Retailer indemnification claims rank second among Vi-Jon’s unsecured obligations

The $15 million of retailer claims comes from private-label contracts obligating Vi-Jon to defend and indemnify its retail customers against product liability.

• Retailers asserting indemnification against Vi-Jon trail only the talc judgments among unsecured obligations, at roughly $15 million in disputed, contingent, and unliquidated amounts.
• We see the same defend-and-indemnify language in most private-label supply agreements, which can land a customer’s tort exposure on the supplier’s balance sheet before it reaches the brand owner.
• Trade credit insurance responds to a buyer’s nonpayment, not to an indemnification demand, subject to credit limits, notification requirements, and policy terms in place at the time of the filing.

What to do now

Vi-Jon targets plan confirmation by day 110 and consummation by day 120, which puts the effective date in mid-to-late September 2026 and leaves a short window to position your claim.

1. Pull every Vi-Jon invoice and purchase order and confirm which legal entity is the counterparty, because a receivable from a non-debtor affiliate sits outside this case entirely, while a balance owed by the debtor itself joins the unsecured class and its distribution timeline.
2. Notify your credit insurer if any balance traces to the debtor, and check your own notification window, which typically runs from the insolvency event and not from the day you finish the entity analysis.
3. Read the indemnification clause in every private-label supply agreement you have signed and price the contingent exposure into your bad-debt reserve.
4. Contact Securitas Global Risk Solutions to review how your policy treats affiliate-level exposure and indemnification obligations before your next renewal.

Disclaimer:
This blog post is meant to be informative and provide helpful tips and insights into credit insurance policies. It is not meant to supersede any policy requirements. Please consult your credit insurance policy for all requirements including claim filing deadlines and required documentation.

Since 2004, Securitas Global Risk Solutions, LLC has helped clients develop trade credit and political risk transfer solutions. As an independent brokerage, Securitas is focused on developing comprehensive solutions that meet client needs, ensuring a complete understanding of policy wording and delivering excellent responsive service. If you want to understand how trade credit insurance can protect your business, contact Securitas Global Risk Solutions to speak with a specialist.