Press Release

Trouble Totals- the rise in bankruptcies and IVAs in perspective

4 May 2006

First quarter headlines:
• IVAs up 48 percent to 13,233
• Bankruptcies up 10 percent to 16,842
• CCCS debt management plans up 39 percent to 10,662
• Total solutions up 26 percent
(all increases compared with Q1 2006)
Trouble Totals is a quarterly statistical release from the Consumer Credit
Counselling Service (CCCS) putting the insolvency statistics (IVAs and
bankruptcies) into a wider perspective. We have included the numbers of
people on a CCCS debt management plan. Our “trouble totals” are the sum
of people who have found an answer to their debt problems through
insolvency or a CCCS plan.
“The growth rate of IVAs has plummeted; it is the lowest since the end of
2004 after which serious advertising began”, said Malcolm Hurlston,
Chairman of CCCS, commenting on the first quarter insolvency statistics.
“Now the IVA companies face diminishing returns as they up their advertising
spend in a competitive market.
Bankruptcy remains an important option – but stigma and cost is still holding
the numbers back”, he added.
The rate of increase in IVAs is continuing to slow. It is now the fourth
consecutive quarter that IVA approvals have slowed, showing a continuation
of the downward growth trend and the banks' slower pace of approval. There
were 13,233 IVAs in Q1 2007, a 48 percent year-on-year increase.1
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1 Note that the Insolvency Service have revised some of their quarterly figures in 2006.

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