Wednesday 3rd of June 2009
One person in the UK is being declared bankrupt or entering into an individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) every 4.35 minutes, fresh statistics have indicated.
Credit Action revealed the statistic as it found that the average adult now owes £30,500 - including mortgages - a figure 124 per cent of average earnings.
According to the charity, lending continued to grow in April, with a £1.3 billion overall increase including a £1 billion rise in secured loans.
The Insolvency Service recently indicated that nearly 30,000 people were made insolvent in the first quarter of 2009.
But the bankruptcy and IVA statistics may not tell the whole story, as R3 recently noted that debt management plans have not been included in them.
Credit Action’s figures also showed that total personal debt was increasing by £1 million every 100 minutes in April, while interest payments continue to mount - the average household having to pay £2,660 per year in these charges alone.
- Alternatives to bankruptcy available, expert notes
- Bankruptcy 'should be a last resort' to tackle debt management issues
- Bankruptcy 'has improved attitude towards debt'
- Insolvency levels rising, figures show
- Negative equity leading to bankruptcy increase, says expert
- People in 20s and 30s 'will struggle financially'
