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The Insolvency Service publish the latest release of its monthly series to provide more up to date information on the number of companies and individuals who are unable to pay debts and enter formal insolvency procedures. The release supplements the Insolvency Service’s quarterly company and individual Insolvency National Statistics.
The monthly series began when COVID-19 occurred, to assess the impact companies and individuals faced. The releases have continued since to get more in depth and timely, along with the quarterly release.
Comparisons in data will be made throughout, comparing to pre-pandemic levels (2019) and during pandemic (2021).
In December 2022 there was a total of 1,964 registered company insolvencies across England and Wales, further broken down as follows:
These figures are 32% higher than in December 2021 and 76% higher than that in the same month three years before (pre-pandemic). Compared to November 2022, these numbers are a slight drop, indicating fewer companies falling insolvent.
An increase of CVLs and compulsory liquidations is said to be the result of the overall increase. The rise in the amount of winding up petitions HMRC has presented, can account for the rise of compulsory liquidations.
Note: between 26 June 2020 and 31 December 2022, 40 companies were granted a moratorium and 12 had restructuring plans registered at Companies House. These procedures were created by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020.
December 2022 saw 114 company insolvencies in Scotland. Figures comprised of 85 CVLs, 22 compulsory liquidations and 7 administrations. There were no receiverships or CVAs. These statistics were 23% higher than in December 2021, and 28% higher than that in December 2019.
Historically, the number of company insolvencies registered in Scotland has been driven by compulsory liquidations but since April 2020, there have been almost three times as many CVLS as compulsory liquidations.
Between 26 June 2020 and 31 December 2022, there were no moratoriums obtained in Scotland and two companies had a restructuring plan registered at Companies House. The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 created these two procedures.
In December 2022, there were 15 company insolvencies in Northern Ireland, comprising of 2 compulsory liquidations, 2 administrations and 11 CVLs. There were no receiverships or CVAs. Compared to December 2021, such numbers are 67% higher, but compared to December 2019, it is 53% lower.
For UK figures, there were a total of 1,979 Debt Relief Orders (DROs) recorded in December 2022 – quite a slide down from November 2022! When looking back to December figures, compared to in 2021, these figures were 6% higher, and for 2019, 5% lower.
There were 397 bankruptcies for England and Wales in December 2022 – a fair drop compared to November 2022. The records are made up of 321 debtor applications and 76 creditor petitions.
Compared to December 2021, bankruptcies were 16% lower and debtor applications 19% lower. Creditor petitions were 2% higher than in December 2021. When looking at 2019, figures were 60% lower for total bankruptcies, 61% lower for debtor applications and 56% lower for creditor petitions.
It was also found that there were 7,233 individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) registered, on average, during the three months ending December 2022. This figure is 9% higher than the three-month period ending December 2021 and 26% higher than that ending December 2019.
When looking at the figures for Northern Ireland, December 2022 saw 123 individual insolvencies. Compared to December 2021 statistics, this is 52% higher and when looking to December 2019 statistics, it is 12% lower. 2022 numbers consisted of 109 IVAs, 7 DROs and 7 bankruptcies.
Find the full publication of statistics here.