Individual insolvencies at record high

by Gill Montia

Story link: Individual insolvencies at record high

New figures from the Insolvency Service show the number of people going bust in England and Wales rising to a record 134,142 in 2009.

Individual bankruptcies numbered 74,670 (up 10.7% on 2008), while those entering Individual Voluntary Arrangements totalled 47,641 (up 21.8% on 2008).

Debt Relief Orders (DROs), which can be used to write of debts of less than £15,000, were embraced by 11,831 people.

DROs are expected to be more widely used in 2010, increasing the likelihood of another record breaking year.

Turning to company insolvencies, 2009 saw 19,077 compulsory liquidations and creditors’ voluntary liquidations, an increase of 22.8% on 2008, taking the figure at its highest since 1993.

The total was made up of 5,643 compulsory liquidations (up 2.7% on 2008), and 13,434 creditors’ voluntary liquidations (up 33.8% on 2008).

The number of companies entering liquidation equates to approximately one in every 114 active companies compared with around one in every 150 active companies in 2008.

In 2009 there were also 6,355 other corporate insolvencies, comprising: 1,468 receiverships, 4,161 administrations and 726 company voluntary arrangements.

In total these represented an increase of 1.3% on 2008.