Fewer people facing bankruptcy - BBC News

The figure of people facing bankruptcy have fallen compared with a twelvemonth ago, states the Ministry of Justice.

One type of bankruptcy request filed with the tribunals in England and Cymru drop by 15% from the first one-fourth of 2007 to the same three calendar months of 2008.

But the figures, which give an indicant of the degrees of debt, have got risen compared with the concluding three calendar months of last year.

In total, 17,931 requests were issued from January to the start of April.

Choosing bankruptcy

The figure of people choosing bankruptcy - called debtors' requests - stood at 13,080 in the first one-fourth of 2008, the figs show.

This was up from 11,674 in the former three months, but a lessening of 13% on the figure of requests in the same one-fourth of 2007.

Some 4,851 people were facing forced bankruptcy - creditors' requests - in the first three calendar months of 2008, up slightly on the 4,583 of the former one-fourth but down 15% on the same clip a twelvemonth ago.

These figs exemplify the start of the bankruptcy process.

They come up shortly after the Insolvency Service revealed the figure of people actually declared insolvent in England and Cymru was up slightly in the first three calendar months of 2008.

Its statistics include people going bankrupt and those pickings out individual voluntary agreements (IVAs) - an option to bankruptcy that lets debtors to come up to an understanding with their creditors.

The figure of individual insolvencies stood at 25,264, up by 1.7% compared with the former three months, but still 13.2% fewer than over the same time period a twelvemonth ago.

Business picture

The Ministry of Justice said that 2,965 companies were facing being lesion up in the first one-fourth of 2008.

Bankruptcy requests are the first phase of the legal process

Similar to the image for individuals, this was a flimsy rise on the 2,888 figure for the former three months, but down 10% on the same three calendar calendar months a twelvemonth ago.

Again, this is in direct contrast to the tendency for companies moving towards the end of the process.

The Insolvency Service said the figure of companies going into disposal rose sharply in the first three calendar months of the year.

The figure of disposals stood at 858 over this period, some 54% higher than the 557 of the former three months.

Many failing companies first spell into disposal or receivership and then those parts of the concern which cannot be rescued are set into liquidation.

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