Member Article

Record number of people declared insolvent in 2010

A record number of people were declared insolvent in England and Wales in 2010 although the number of new cases fell in the last three months of the year.

There were 135,089 people declared insolvent last year, the Insolvency Service said, up 0.7% on 2009 and the highest since records began in 1960.

However, there was a 13.6% drop in the last quarter of the year compared with the same period in 2009.

A spokesman for the Association of Business Recovery Professionals, said: “The number of people in formal insolvency procedures fell in the last quarter of 2010. However, personal insolvency continues to run at a record high.”

In business, administrations rose 1.4% to 642 in Q4 2010 compared with 633 in the third quarter.

The latest figures reflect a 24.4% decrease on the same quarter a year earlier when 849 entered administration.

Joe McLean, Partner at Grant Thornton’s Recovery and Reorganisation practice in the North East, said: “This rise reflects the increasing pressure that many UK firms are facing.

“However, these figures are still way off their peak in Q1 2009, when 1,311 companies fell into administration.” Meanwhile, the number of companies entering liquidation saw a slight fall of 0.2% to 3,955 compared with 3,964 in the third quarter.

The latest figures reflect a 11.3% decrease on the same quarter a year earlier.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .