The number of consumers in England and Wales that were declared insolvent has fallen reports The Insolvency Service.

There were 30,219 individual insolvencies in England and Wales in the third quarter of 2011. This was a decrease of 11.0% on the same period a year ago.

This was made up of 9,567 bankruptcies (which were down 31.2% on the corresponding quarter of the previous year), 13,048 Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs), (which were up 0.7% on the corresponding quarter of the previous year) and 7,604 Debt Relief Orders (DROs),  (which were up 7.6% on the corresponding quarter of the previous year and represent the highest quarterly total since their introduction).

Change in Debt Relief Orders

In April 2011 a change was introduced to Debt Relief Order legislation to allow those who have built up value in a pension scheme to apply for debt relief under these provisions; this will have increased the overall numbers of those eligible to apply for a Debt Relief Order, and is also expected to have had some impact on the numbers of bankruptcy orders.

Insolvencies are made up of bankruptcies, debt relief orders (DROs) and individual voluntary arrangements, (IVAs).

Some insolvency experts are predicting insolvencies to rise again next year as traditionally the first two quarters of every year are higher as consumers try to come to terms with over indulgence of Christmas spending.

The increasing cost to go bankrupt

The cost for a consumer to petition their own bankruptcy has increased 37% since June 2010 and now stands at £700 per individual. Earlier this year I wrote to the Prime Minister raising my concerns about this issue and its effect on overstretched consumers. You can read my letter to the PM on the link below;

Government to review the cost of consumer bankruptcy fees news released 3 November 2011.

Mike's blog on The stigma of debt is still rife within our society

Insolvency figures since 1960 (when records began)