Bankruptcy numbers at lowest since 1998!

The Insolvency Service statistics show that personal insolvencies in England and Wales during 2014 are at there lowest in 9 years. With a total of 99,196 personal insolvencies in 2014, this confirms a year on year fall for the fourth successive year. Bankruptcies in particular reached their lowest level since 1998, at 20,318 over the year, and were down 17.3{06aeb1921e0b802d2bd9c766bc98fb11cc6a46c2b0593ed9c88a0e29cf417a34} year-on-year. Debt relief orders (DROs), introduced in 2009 for lower level debt and a cheaper alternative to bankruptcy, has probably affected bankruptcy figures. Although DRO numbers have also fallen from previous years. While both bankruptcies and DROs were down, Individual Voluntary Arrangements were at there highest since their introduction in 1987. With 52,190 IVAs in 2014, a figure up 6.8{06aeb1921e0b802d2bd9c766bc98fb11cc6a46c2b0593ed9c88a0e29cf417a34} year-on-year, and comprising 53{06aeb1921e0b802d2bd9c766bc98fb11cc6a46c2b0593ed9c88a0e29cf417a34} of all personal insolvencies in the year, compared with just 30{06aeb1921e0b802d2bd9c766bc98fb11cc6a46c2b0593ed9c88a0e29cf417a34} in 2005. Source: Insolvency News