Friday, Feb 05, 2010

The figure dwarfed the previous record of 107,288 personal insolvencies set in 2006

Telegraph: Personal insolvencies hit record of 134,000 in 2009

The DRO is a new individual insolvency procedure which came into force on April 6 2009 and provides an alternative route into personal insolvency for certain categories of over-indebted individuals. - more fiddling while Rome burns

Posted by matt_the_hat @ 10:35 AM (965 views) Add Comment

7 Comments

1. estrader said...

“While Britain is technically out of recession, the harsh reality is that many people are still living beyond their means. Lessons from history show that personal insolvencies will continue to rise after the recession finally ends and for some time to come."

And there you have it! The reason why house prices 'bounced back' and defy gravity. People are stupid.

Friday, February 5, 2010 10:54AM Report Comment
 

2. mark wadsworth said...

Glorious. All these people "living beyond their means" - that's just more Home-Owner-Ist propaganda.

Ignoring a few people who maxed out on store cards and credit cards (and there will always be a few, tough sh*t), the main reason why people are struggling is because they are lumbered with huge mortgages. Now, by and large, the people with the biggest mortgages are those who bought in the last few years when prices were ridiculously high, so they probably bought a much smaller property than they would have done fifteen years ago (when house prices were, let's be honest, reasonably low).

Ergo, in material terms, these people are not in any way "living the high life", they have been forced to accept a lower standard of living by the incumbents, the Home-Owner-Ists, who by and large have smaller or no mortgages. And in their own minds, the people saddled with colossal debts are "responsible borrowers" who wanted to "invest in bricks and mortar to secure their own future", i.e. suckers who bought into the Home-Owner-Ist dream and are now being spat on by the Home-Owner-Ists.

Friday, February 5, 2010 11:17AM Report Comment
 

3. jonny parker said...

MW @ 2

That made me chuckle - sweet and succinct!

Friday, February 5, 2010 01:27PM Report Comment
 

4. mark wadsworth said...

JP, I aim to amuse and inform in equal measure.

From the BBC's write up of the same press release:

"The number of individual insolvencies has shot up in the past decade, and now far outstrip the numbers seen in 1992 and 1993 of about 37,000 each year, although it is easier now to be declared bankrupt. Experts said this was because the amount of credit built up by individuals - especially on plastic - mushroomed in the last decade. Since 1993, the amount of personal debt in the UK - including mortgages - has risen from £398bn to £1.46 trillion."

Lies, lies, lies. About 90% of that £1.46 trillion is mortgages on housing. In absolute terms, the credit cards debts are nothing to worry about. Especially if you don't have any :)

Friday, February 5, 2010 02:28PM Report Comment
 

5. dill said...

MW @ 4

To back that up. The figures, according to creditaction, as of the end of December 2009:

Total private debt = £1,460bn

Secured lending on dwellings = £1,234bn

Unsecured lending (credit cards and loans) = £226bn

So 84.5% is mortgage debt.

Friday, February 5, 2010 03:13PM Report Comment
 

6. monty032 said...

DROs are brilliant for the financially incontinent. My friend has just gone for one. He has been unemployed most of his life but Barclaycard gave him a card during a brief spell of employment. Since then he has run up a debt of £13,000. They kept on increasing his limit without the slightest attempt to inquire into his personal circumstances, so it's difficult to feel sorry for them. They are phoning him several times a day at the moment, but within a few weeks the DRO will be in place and he'll be debt-free.

Friday, February 5, 2010 05:17PM Report Comment
 

7. hpwatcher said...

They are phoning him several times a day at the moment, but within a few weeks the DRO will be in place and he'll be debt-free.

Serves their right, the idiots!

Friday, February 5, 2010 08:39PM Report Comment
 

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