The latest figures from the Insolvency Service have indicated that personal insolvencies in England & Wales decreased by 18.5% to 9,409 in April 2022 compared to 11,550 in March, and were 4.7% lower than April 2021’s figure of 9,873.
Bankruptcy
The personal insolvencies figures show that there were 530 bankruptcies registered, which was 36% lower than in April 2021 and 64% lower than April 2019. The bankruptcies were made up of 443 debtor applications and 87 creditor petitions. Monthly bankruptcy numbers between July 2021 and April 2022 were lower than the numbers in 2020, which were already lower than pre-pandemic levels.
Bankruptcies were 36% lower than in April 2021. Debtor applications were 40% lower but creditor petitions were at a similar level to April 2021.
Compared to April 2019, total bankruptcies were 64% lower; debtor applications were 63% lower and creditor petitions were 71% lower.
Debt Relief Order
There were 1,708 Debt Relief Orders (DROs) in April 2022, which was 20% higher than in April 2021 and 29% lower than the pre-pandemic comparison month (April 2019). This increase is linked to changes to the eligibility criteria on 29 June 2021 including an increase in the level of debt at which people can apply for a DRO from £20,000 to £30,000.
IVA’s
There were, on average, 7,516 IVAs registered per month in the three months ending April 2022, which is 10% higher than the three months ending April 2021, and 22% higher than the three months ending April 2019. IVA numbers have ranged from around 6,300 to 7,500 per month over the past year.
There were, on average, 7,516 IVAs registered per month in the three months ending April 2022, 10% higher than for the three months ending April 2021 and 22% higher than the three months ending April 2019.
Breathing Space
In April 2022 there were 5,388 breathing space registrations. This was made up of 5,282 (98%) standard breathing space registrations and 106 (2%) mental health breathing space registrations.
