• Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

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North East Stays Top Of UK Personal Insolvency Table

Andy HaslamNorth East England has retained its unwanted place at the top of the national table for personal insolvency for the eighth consecutive year.
According to the latest annual figures from The Insolvency Service, there were 22.6 individual insolvencies per 10,000 people in the North East in 2015, which are comprised of bankruptcies, Debt Relief Orders (DROs) and Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs).
But despite this representing a fall of around 20 per cent on the regional rate in 2014, it is still five points higher than the national average (17.6) and almost double the rate for London (11.8).
Every local authority area across the North East had a rate of at least 20 individual insolvencies per 10,000 residents, with Hartlepool Borough Council falling into the highest category of having an insolvency rate per 10,000 residents of more than 25.
And Andy Haslam, North East vice chair of insolvency trade body R3 and a partner with Tait Walker, is advising people across the region to take proactive steps to ensure they don’t become part of next year’s statistics.
Across the UK, the new figures showed a fall in the total insolvencies per 10,000 adults from 21.8 in 2014 to 17.6 in 2015, which continues the falling trend since 2009 and is the lowest level since 2005, but they also identified a growing gender gap in insolvency.
The individual insolvency rate per 10,000 adults was higher in 2015 for women (18.2) than it was for men (16.9), while the rate at which it is falling is faster for men (drop of 4.1 on 2014 rate) than for women (drop of 3.9).
Andy Haslam says: “The make-up of the North East economy has changed significantly over the last two decades, and while it retains a strong manufacturing base and has built an expanding knowledge economy in recent years, there are still residual issues to be faced from the decline of the region’s traditional industries which go a long way toward explaining the higher personal insolvency rates here.
 
“Other issues contributing to this situation include the higher proportion of people employed in the public sector in the North East than elsewhere, the consequently greater impact that the Government’s spending cuts has had in the region over recent years, and the higher-than-average proportion of people in the North East with a long-term disability, which is recognised as being a regular contributory factor towards personal finance concerns.
 
“The new insolvency statistics reflect the fact that there is, unfortunately, still a large degree of gender inequality in the economy. Women may be more prone to insolvency, but this is probably linked to the fact that they tend to have lower levels of assets or incomes to live on than men.
“They are also much more likely to be financially dependent on someone else, and it’s a lot easier to ‘over-spend’ or be exposed to a financial shock in this situation.
“Money troubles can hit anyone at any time for any number of different reasons, and it’s crucial that anyone who thinks they’re getting into financial difficulty seeks advice as quickly as possible to find a solution to their problems, so they have the best possible chance of finding the right way forward for themselves and their creditors.”

By admin