Individual Bankruptcy Petitions Up 20 Per Cent

Fri, 14 May 2010

New data from the Ministry of Justice has revealed that the number of people who are declaring themselves bankrupt in England and Wales soared during the first three months of the year.

The figures showed that a total of 16,348 bankruptcy petitions were presented in courts by people with severe debt problems in the first quarter of 2010 – up 20 per cent up from the previous quarter.

The number of bankruptcy proceedings that were started by creditors also rose by 4 per cent to 4,329.

Commenting on the findings, Brian Johnson, an insolvency practitioner at accountants HW Fisher, said: "For many people, the current downturn has lasted for too long and more and more of them are now having to declare themselves bankrupt ."

"There is often a rise in the number of debtors' bankruptcy petitions in the first quarter, as people make a huge effort to get beyond Christmas before they concede defeat."

According to the MoJ data, the number of bankruptcies being instigated by debtors has risen significantly over the past five years, from 37,000 in 2005 to 63,000 in 2009.

Last week the Insolvency Service released a report which showed there were 35,682 personal insolvencies in the first three months of the year – the highest figure since records began and up around 18 per cent on the same period last year.
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