Are we in the UK drowning in Debt? According to the insurer AXA, some 11.6 million people (25 per cent of the adult population) are said to be struggling financially with a significant number, around 1.3 million people, admitting their finances are entirely out of control.
AXA reported that mounting credit card bills are now putting just close to 3.8 million people under intense financial pressure and a further one million of UK borrowers are now struggling to keep up their repayments.
County Court Judgements CCJ's issued to the personal consumer has increased to their highest level since the beginning of 2007 and half a million home owners with mortgages where threatened with repossession or court action.
The public interest Company that manages the register of judgements on behalf of the Lord Chancellor has reported that within England and Wales County Court Judgements rose by 17.4 per cent year on year to 223,519, its highest level since the beginning of 2007 and from the second quarter of 2008 this is a 25 per cent increase.
Individuals entering into insolvency within the borders of England and Wales are on the up by nearly 9 per cent or just over twenty seven thousand in the 3rd part of 2008 compared with the previous quarter.
Bankruptcies and Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) have increased 12 and 3 percent respectively.
The credit crunch could be blamed for the increase in corporate and personal insolvency throughout 2008, however, its patently obvious that further failures are going to be compounded by the recession throughout 2009.
Unfortunately the planned Simplified Individual Voluntary Arrangement SIVA, due out next year has been abandoned by the Insolvency Service
Where an IVA needed 75 per cent of creditors to accept the proposal for insolvency a Simplified IVA or SIVA only required that a majority accept the terms. The SIVA was intended to be launched next year with a creditor cap of 75,000.
UK Home Owners unable to consolidate their debts using equity and are not wishing to go bankrupt have for the time being limited options between an IVA and a Debt Management Program.