Record number declared insolvent

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Statistics from the Government's Insolvency Service revealed that a total of 30,075 people went bankrupt or took out an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) between January and March - the first time that a quarterly total has broken the 30,000 mark.

Broken down, the figures show 16,842 people went bankrupt while 13,233 opted for an IVA. The combined figure was an increase on the 29,715 people who went insolvent in the previous quarter.

The total number of insolvencies was up 23.9% on the same period a year ago and represented a 1.2% hike on Autumn's statistics.

The growth rate of IVAs - a formal agreement between debtors and creditors - continues to outpace that of bankruptcies.

IVAs were up 47.6% year-on-year and 4.7% on the previous quarter, despite a toughening stance from banks regarding debt write-off.

In comparison, bankruptcies fell on the last quarter while still showing a jump of 10% on the same period in 2006.

Steve Treharne, head of personal insolvency at KPMG, warned that the high level of overall insolvencies could continue throughout the year.

He said: "The fact that these figures have gone up doesn't surprise me. There are a lot of people out there with financial difficulties that need sorting out. I expect to see the figures remain high, certainly throughout this year and probably into next.

"There is still a lot of people who haven't faced up to reality yet and if we get an interest rate rise it will be another pressure on people who are really struggling."