100,000 went belly up in 2006
Published On 2 February 2007
There were over 100,000 people declared insolvent in 2006 with a record number of consumers in England and Wales deemed unable to pay their debts. Figures released by the government today found that the overall number of people declared insolvent last year reached 107,288.
The last quarter of 2006 alone saw 29,804 people declared insolvent, which was a 7.1 per cent rise on the number of insolvencies in the third quarter of the year.
When compared for the corresponding period in 2005, the number of insolvencies in the fourth quarter of 2006 was up by 44.1 per cent.
Annie Kiem, ifs School of Finance spokeswoman, commented on the rising bankruptcy figures.
She said: "We continue to see the number of people becoming bankrupt increasing, whether through taking an IVA or a bankruptcy order.
"Insolvencies have increased from around 28,000 in 1998 to over 107,000 in 2006 – a period when the economy can be considered to have been relatively buoyant.
"A general lack of financial capability among the British population goes a long way to explaining why we are in this predicament. By giving everyone the crucial life skill of being able to manage their own finances the numbers of insolvencies would doubtless decrease."
