Personal insolvency fears ‘increasing’
There are a number of people struggling with personal insolvency and many more who have not sought help.
This is the view of Steven Law, president …
There are a number of people struggling with personal insolvency and many more who have not sought help.
This is the view of Steven Law, president of insolvency trade body R3.
Mr Law said that recent rises in the number of people in financial turmoil were expected because of unemployment increases and the debt hangover.
The specialist noted, however, that there is a “debt iceberg” with lots of individuals in monetary difficulty who aren’t recorded in official statistics.
These include people in debt management plans, which could be around 500,000 and a further 574,000 who are in trouble but have contacted their creditors informally.
An extra 961,000 individuals have not sought help and “this group could find themselves in formal insolvency procedures unless they take swift action”, he added.
Neil Munroe, external affairs director at Equifax, recently suggested that the number of people becoming insolvent may be on the increase, despite the country emerging from the recession.
By Joe Shervin
