A claim that is no longer subject to dispute by the debtor or any other party in interest. A claim becomes allowed in the following ways: (1) a proof of claim, upon filing, is deemed allowed unless and until the debtor or a party in interest objects; (2) in Chapter 11 cases, any scheduled claim that is not listed on the debtor’s schedules as disputed, contingent, or unliquidated is deemed allowed; (3) a claim that is allowed by the court after an objection is filed and heard is an allowed claim; or (4) a contingent or unliquidated claim that is estimated under Section 502(c) by the court is an allowed claim.
An allowed claim confers a right to distributions (if there are any) and the right to vote on the plan (if the claim is in an impaired class). Creditors often do not know until very late in a case whether their claims will, in the end, be allowed claims, because debtors and other parties in interest frequently wait until near the close of the bankruptcy case to file objections to claims.
Bankruptcy Code §§ 301, 303, 502. See also Contingent Claim, Disputed Claim, Oversecured Creditor, Undersecured Creditor, Unliquidated Claim, Unsecured Claim.