Notes About Business

Are we in the UK drowning in Debt? According to the insurer AXA, some 11.6 million people (25 per cent of the adult population) are said to be struggling financially with a significant number, around 1.3 million people, admitting their finances are entirely out of control.

AXA reported that mounting credit card bills are now putting just close to 3.8 million people under intense financial pressure and a further one million of UK borrowers are now struggling to keep up their repayments.

Half a million home owners have been threatened with a bailiff or eviction and personal county court judgements CCJs has increased in quarter 3 to their highest level since the start of 2007

In England and Wales CCJs rose by 17.4 per cent year on year to 223,519, their highest level since the first quarter of 2007, according to figures published by the Registry Trust, the public interest company which manages the register of judgements, orders and fines on behalf of the Lord Chancellor. This represents an increase of 24.8 per cent from the second quarter of 2008.

Individuals entering into insolvency within the borders of England and Wales are on the up by nearly 9 per cent or just over twenty seven thousand in the 3rd part of 2008 compared with the previous quarter.

17,341 people went bankrupt, which has shot up 12.1 per cent from 15,463 in the second quarter of the year, and 9,746 individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs), which is up 3.3 per cent from the three months before.

The treacherous economic conditions for people and business has created a rise in corporate and personal insolvency and the worsening economy is making the prospect of a further rise in insolvency further predictable through 2009.

It was hoped that the SIVA, planned for release in early 2009 would help with some of the debt burden, however, the Insolvency Service has just abandoned the concept.

Where an IVA needed 75 per cent of creditors to accept the proposal for insolvency a Simplified IVA or SIVA only required that a majority accept the terms. The SIVA was intended to be launched next year with a creditor cap of 75,000.

For the time being the options available to the equity challenged British public who are struggling with debt and are not wishing to go bankrupt is either seeking debt management advice or some form or individual insolvency arrangement.