September 2024 saw 1,973 corporate insolvencies which was 2% higher than las month (1,943) but 7% lower than September 2023 (2,130). Average monthly numbers so far in 2024 have been similar to 2023, which saw the highest annual number since 1993.
Turning to the breakdown, as ever CVLs lead the way with 1,575 (80% of the monthly total). In second place was Compulsory Liquidations (226), followed by 155 Administrations and 17 CVAs. The number Compulsory Liquidations in September 2024 was 18% lower than in August 2024 and 13% lower than in September 2023. The number of Administrations in September 2024 was 40% higher than in August 2024 and 19% higher than in September 2023.
There were no Receiverships, Moratoriums or Restructuring Plans registered last month.
One in 182 companies on the Companies House effective register (at a rate of 55.0 per 10,000 companies) entered insolvency between 1 October 2023 and 30 September 2024. This was a slight decrease from the 55.8 per 10,000 companies that entered insolvency in the 12 months ending 30 September 2023. While the insolvency rate has increased since the lows seen in 2020 and 2021, it remains much lower than the peak of 113.1 per 10,000 companies seen during the 2008-09 recession. This is because the number of companies on the effective register has more than doubled over this period.
Into the personal insolvency market, 10,651 individuals entered insolvency in England and Wales in September 2024. This was 6% higher than in August 2024 and 44% higher than in September 2023 (although this jump is mostly due to an error with the number of reported IVAs 12 months ago). This figure consisted of 567 Bankruptcies, 4,032 DROs and 6,052 IVAs.
As the newsroom has reported over the past few months, DROs are at their highest monthly levels since their introduction, following the removal of the £90 administration fee to obtain a DRO from 6 April 2024. The 4,032 DROs registered in September 2024 was 91% higher than the long-term (2014 to 2023) monthly average of 2,114, although slightly below the record high of 4,376 seen in June 2024.
In the 12 months to 30 September 2024, 57% of individual insolvencies were IVAs, 36% were DROs, and 7% were Bankruptcies. This figure of more than one in three individual insolvencies being DROs is a rise compared to just over one in four in the previous 12 months (ending September 2023), when 67% of individual insolvencies were IVAs, 27% were DROs, and 7% were Bankruptcies. The long-term trend shows a decrease in the proportion of individual insolvencies that are Bankruptcies - ten years ago, 52% of individual insolvencies were IVAs, 27% were DROs and 21% were Bankruptcies.
