Number of people facing bankruptcy falls

According to recent figures from the Ministry of Justice there are now fewer people facing bankruptcy than there were this time last year. Between the first quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year there was a fall of 15% for one type of bankruptcy petition filed with the courts.

However, whilst the figure has fallen for the first quarter of this year compared to the first quarter of last year, the figure has risen compared to the final three months of last year. Between January and the start of April there were nearly eighteen thousand petitions filed in total.

The first three months of this year saw 4851 people facing forced bankruptcy, known as debtors petitions, which was down by 15% compared to the first quarter of last year. The first three months of this year saw just over thirteen thousand people choosing bankruptcy, which was a drop of 13% compared to the same period last year.

One industry official said that the fact that the figures were higher for the first quarter of this year compared to the final quarter of last year reflected the increasing financial problems that consumers were facing due to increasing costs.