We in the NTI newsroom really want this to be the only bulletin you receive today that doesn't include the words 'Jeremy Hunt'.
Damn!
The Insolvency Service have just published the formal statistics for February 2023 and whether the reading of them is 'grim' or not depends upon your perspective.
During February there were 1,783 company insolvencies registered. This is 17 per cent higher than the equivalent month in 2022, when 1,518 were registered, and 33 per cent higher than the number registered before we learnt all about Covid and what not to include on WhatsApp messages to our mates in cabinet. The number in February 2020 was 1,345.
Looking at individual or personal insolvency, there were 580 Bankruptcies registered in February, the numbers still insisting on bucking the corporate trend, as this was an almost imperceptible 3 per cent lower than in February 2022. However, maybe more remarkably, the number of Bankruptcies was a massive 63 per cent lower than February 2020.
Breaking those numbers down for those of you who are still with us, there were:
• 158 Compulsory Liquidations in February 2023; double the number in February 2022 and 32 per cent lower than in February 2020
• 2,083 Debt Relief Orders in February 2023, which was 7 per cent lower than in February 2022 and 13 per cent lower than in February 2020
• 5,627 Individual Voluntary Arrangements registered per month in the three-month period ending February 2023. This is 12 per cent lower than the three-month period ending February 2022, but similar to the three-month period ending February 2020.
We are not convinced that all of the above tells you more than you already know (except for the 'numbers' and 'percentages' bit). NTI hear from our clients that CVLs (very often small ones with few assets) are rampant as small companies finally lose their grip and tumble off the wall. The fact is that corporate insolvencies are at their highest level for four years. Compulsory Liquidations continue to attend their own come back party, but no-one really understands what is happening to personal insolvency.
We do know that it takes the average debtor 8 to 12 months to come to a decision to do something formal about crippling debt situations once they realise they are up to their necks in it. But 8 to 12 months ago these poor folk were in just as much trouble ...
... so where are they now?
