Corporate Insolvencies Decline, Personal Insolvencies Increase

Statistics released by the Insolvency Service on 7th May 2010 show that the number of Company insolvency cases declined in the first quarter of 2010. However, personal insolvency cases increased by almost 18%.

COMPANY INSOLVENCIES

There were 4,082 compulsory liquidations and creditors’ voluntary liquidations in total in England and Wales in the first quarter of 2010. This was a decrease of 8.4% on the previous quarter and a decrease of 17.8% on the same period a year ago.

The number was made up of 1,314 compulsory liquidations (down 1.3% on the previous quarter and down 14.8% on the corresponding quarter of2009), and 2,768 creditors voluntary liquidations (down 11.4% on the previous quarter and down 19.1% on the corresponding quarter of 2009). 

In the twelve months ending in quarter 1 of  2010, approximately 1 in 120 active companies (or 0.8%) went into liquidation, which is a decrease from the previous quarter, when this figure stood at 1 in 114 (0.9%).

INDIVIDUAL INSOLVENCIES

There were 35,682 individual insolvencies in England and Wales in the first quarter of 2010, an increase of 17.9% on the same period in 2009.

This was made up of 18,256 bankruptcies (down 10.7% on the corresponding quarter of 2009), 11,782 Individual Voluntary Arrangements (up 20.1% on the corresponding quarter of 2009) and 5,644 Debt Relief Orders.

In the first quarter of 2010, 86.5% of bankruptcies were made on the petition of the debtor, slightly up on recent quarters.  The percentage of bankruptcy orders involving trading debts (self-employed bankruptcies) was 13.0% in the fourth quarter of 2009 (first quarter 2010 figures for trading-related bankruptcies are not yet available), taking the figure for 2009 as a whole to 13.1%, up from 12.1% in 2008