Conflicting Insolvency Figures Released

New insolvency figures from the government and the TDX group have offered differing findings.

According to ministers, the number of individual insolvencies in England and Wales has fallen by two percent over April-June. The 24,553 people who became insolvent over the three months also represents an 8.3 percent reduction over the equivalent period in 2007.

However, the continuing effects of the credit crunch - with company liquidations found by the government to have increased by 11.6 percent over the period - might mean that insolvency numbers increase once more over months to come. Moreover, informal debt management plans, which see creditor and debtor striking their own agreement over repayments, are also not included in the figures.

The number of people taking out an Individual Voluntary Arrangement - commonly referred to as "bankruptcy-lite" was shown in the official statistics to have decreased by 3.2 percent over the quarter, while full bankruptcies also dropped by 1.3 percent.

Meanwhiile, the TDX figures show that 17 percent more homeowners had applied for insolvency over the quarter - a much more gloomy finding. Mark Onyett, chief executive at TDX, told the Daily Telegraph that the "increase[s] in mortgage interest payments" recently imposed by home loans firms in the UK is "hitting homeowners hard".