Personal insolvencies up 23% in a year

The Insolvency Service has revealed that in the year ending March 31st 2007 there were 113,089 people who opted to declare themselves bankrupt or enter into an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) in the UK.

Additionally, the service noted that there were close to 17,000 people across the country who turned to bankruptcy as a means of debt solution during the first three months of this year.

“The number of people we expect to become insolvent in 2007 [130,000] is startling,” said Steve Treharne, head of personal insolvency at accountancy firm KPMG.

“If these people had to form a human chain, it would stretch through the Channel Tunnel and back again,” he added.

Mr Treharne noted in February that the number of people who entered an IVA during 2006 could comfortable fill the newly constructed Wembley Stadium.