Personal bankruptcies increase

Posted 2008-05-5

The Insolvency Service has claimed that personal insolvencies across England and Wales have risen for the first time since 2006.

Individual cases for the first quarter of 2008 included 15,651 bankruptcies and 9,614 individual voluntary agreements (IVA), totalling 25,264 and representing a 1.7 per cent increase on the previous quarter.

Mike Gerrard, a personal insolvency partner at Grant Thornton expects the number to rise by the end of the year as the effects of the credit crunch are felt by more people.

"Although some individuals showing up in the latest insolvency figures will have done so because of financial difficulties brought about by the global downturn, it wont be until later this year or early next that we will see the full extent of the credit crunch on UK individuals," he said.

Bankruptcy is one way a person can deal with debts they can no longer service and it involves their assets being shared amongst creditors, according to the Insolvency Service.

Leave a Reply