IVAs up again as personal insolvencies hit 25,000

Personal insolvencies rose 11 percent between June and September this year – to a total of 25,470. Of these, 61 percent were IVAs, 25 percent were debt relief orders (DROs) and the remaining 14 percent were bankruptcies. The figures were released today in the Insolvency Service’s quarterly statistics.

Adrian Hyde, president of insolvency and restructuring trade body R3, said: “Falling real wages and exhausted credit limits may have helped to push personal insolvencies up again. Aside from a couple of dips, notably in the previous quarter, there has been a pretty consistent upward trend in insolvencies since the middle of 2015.”

He said it’s important to approach the personal insolvency statistics with a touch of caution and that IVAs, which are often used to help resolve problem consumer debts, may be at a record high, but rises and falls in these numbers can be linked to changes in the market and access to IVAs rather than individual indebtedness.

Jeremy Wilmont, partner and head of restructuring and insolvency at accountancy firm Moore Stephens, added: “The rise in insolvencies is not a flash in the pan, but a consistent and growing trend in the UK economy.

“Some may see this as Brexit chickens coming home to roost.”