Insolvency Statistics – April to June 2014 (Q2 2014) Coverage England and Wales Scotland Northern Ireland Release date 29 July 2014 Frequency of release Quarterly Next update 29 October 2014 Media enquiries Kathryn Montague +44 (0)20 7674 6910 Ade Daramy +44 (0)20 7596 6187 Lead Statistician John Perrett 020 7637 6504 Website Reference Ins14/coms/070 This statistical release contains the latest quarterly statistics on insolvency in England and Wales, both for companies (company insolvency) and for people (individual insolvency). It also includes related statistics for Scotland and Northern Ireland. Key facts Companies The number of company liquidations in England and Wales decreased compared with April to June 2013. Administrations, company voluntary arrangements and receiverships were also lower than a year ago. People The number of people who became insolvent in England and Wales increased compared with April to June 2013. This is because of an increase of one-fifth in the number of individual voluntary arrangements. Bankruptcies and debt relief orders decreased. Insolvency Statistics: your views on the new format The Insolvency Service has changed the presentation and commentary of these statistics, in response to feedback from users and in order to meet current standards for statistical publications. Your feedback on all aspects of this release are important, to aid the process of continuous improvement. Please send comments to .
Contents Page 1 Summary 1.1 Company insolvency in England and Wales 3 1.2 Individual insolvency in England and Wales 4 1.3 Summary tables 5 2 Company insolvency in England and Wales 2.1 Company liquidations 6 2.2 Administrations, company voluntary arrangements, and receiverships 9 2.3 Experimental Statistics: company liquidations by industry 10 3 Individual insolvency in England and Wales 3.1 Bankruptcies, debt relief orders and individual voluntary arrangements 12 3.2 Bankruptcies: petition type, trading status and income payment agreements 14 4 Insolvency in Scotland 4.1 Company insolvency 17 4.2 Individual insolvency 18 5 Insolvency in Northern Ireland 5.1 Company insolvency 19 5.2 Individual insolvency 20 6 Background notes 21 What is seasonal adjustment, and why has it been applied to these statistics? Seasonal adjustment has been used in the Insolvency Statistics for a number of years, is commonly used in official statistics, and is the process by which patterns in a data series that are due to seasonal or other calendar influences are removed, to produce a clearer picture of the underlying behaviour of the data. This means that data for the latest quarter can be compared with that for the previous (or any other) quarter, without the comparison being distorted by calendar effects. Several data series in this release – such as bankruptcies – have been seasonally adjusted. Some – such as compulsory liquidations – did not show seasonal patterns and did not require adjustment. Where possible, seasonally adjusted data are referred to in this release, to aid interpretation of quarter-on-quarter changes. The main exception is the section on individual insolvencies, where the data series for one type of insolvency (debt relief orders) is not yet long enough to apply seasonal adjustment. The detailed tables which accompany this release contain both adjusted and unadjusted data. Illustration of seasonal adjustment This graph shows the number of bankruptcies in England and Wales each quarter. The unadjusted data has regular peaks in Q1 of each year, which if not accounted for could lead to comparisons between quarters being distorted by these regular effects.
1.3 Summary tables Table 1: New company insolvencies in England and Wales1,2 (seasonally adjusted)3 Number of insolvencies % change – 2014 Q2 on 2013 Q2 r 2013 Q3 r 2013 Q4 r 2014 Q1 r 2014 Q2 p 2014 Q1 2013 Q2 Compulsory liquidations 1,039 921 699 1,075 974 -9.4 -6.3 Creditors' voluntary liquidations2 3,038 2,894 2,852 2,643 2,487 -5.9 -18.1 Receiverships4 192 253 236 205 171 -16.6 -10.9 Administrations 630 605 599 508 410 -19.2 -34.9 Company voluntary arrangements 160 152 123 142 142 0.0 -11.3 Source: Insolvency Service and Companies House. p = provisional, r = revised. 1 Longer series back to 2004 are presented in the accompanying detailed tables. 2 Excludes creditors' voluntary liquidations following administration (see section 2.1). 3 The series for compulsory liquidations, company voluntary arrangements and receiverships do not require seasonal adjustment. 4 Includes Law of Property Act receiverships, which are not insolvencies but which cannot be identified separately. Table 2: Individual insolvencies in England and Wales (not seasonally adjusted)1,2 Number of insolvencies % change – 2014 Q2 on 2013 Q2 2013 Q3 2013 Q4 2014 Q1 r 2014 Q2 p 2013 Q2 Total Individuals 25,728 26,035 24,305 24,941 27,029 5.1 Bankruptcy orders 6,480 6,009 5,409 5,681 5,452 -15.9 Debt Relief orders 7,132 6,632 6,563 6,549 7,006 -1.8 Individual voluntary arrangements 12,116 13,394 12,333 12,711 14,571 20.3 Source: Insolvency Service. p = provisional, r = revised. 1 Longer series back to 2004 are presented in the accompanying detailed tables. 2 Seasonally adjusted figures for bankruptcy orders and individual voluntary arrangements are presented in the accompanying detailed tables.