Official Statistics

Commentary - Monthly Insolvency Statistics December 2021

Published 18 January 2022

Released

18 January 2022

Next release

15 February 2022

Media enquiries

Steven Fifer

+44 (0)30 3003 1568

Statistical enquiries

Stacey Witchell (author)

statistics@insolvency.gov.uk

Kate Palmer (responsible statistician)

1. Main Messages for England and Wales

The number of registered company insolvencies in December 2021 was 1,486:

• 20% higher than the number registered in the same month in the previous year (1,237 in December 2020), and
• 33% higher than the number registered two years previously (pre-pandemic; 1,120 in December 2019).

In December 2021 there were 1,365 Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidations (CVLs), which is 37% higher than in December 2020, and 73% higher than in December 2019. Other types of company insolvencies, such as compulsory liquidations, remained lower than before the pandemic.

For individuals, 434 bankruptcies were registered, which was 47% lower than December 2020 and 60% lower than December 2019.

There were 1,872 Debt Relief Orders (DROs) in December 2021. Following changes to the eligibility criteria on 29 June 2021 including an increase in the level of debt at which people can apply for a DRO from £20,000 to £30,000, DRO numbers were higher between July and December 2021 than in previous months since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of DROs registered in December 2021 was 51% higher than December 2020 but remained lower than pre-pandemic levels (10% lower than in December 2019).

There were, on average, 6,648 IVAs registered per month in the three-month period ending December 2021, which is 16% lower than the three-month period ending December 2020 but 15% higher than the three-month period ending December 2019.

Note that the IVA series is historically volatile as it is based on date of registration at the Insolvency Service (see the Methodology and data quality section for more information).

Between the launch of the Breathing Space scheme on 4 May 2021, and 31 December 2021, there were 41,127 registrations, comprised of 40,503 Standard breathing space registrations and 624 Mental Health breathing space registrations.

From the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic until mid-2021, overall numbers of company and individual insolvencies have remained low when compared with pre-pandemic levels. While CVL numbers are now higher than pre-pandemic levels, numbers for other insolvency procedures, such as compulsory liquidations for companies and bankruptcies for individuals, remain lower. This is likely to be partly driven by government measures put in place to support businesses and individuals during the pandemic, including:

• Temporary restrictions on the use of statutory demands and certain winding-up petitions (leading to company compulsory liquidations).
• Enhanced government financial support for companies and individuals.

From 30 September 2021, some of these temporary measures either ended or were replaced by new tapering measures, however it is not possible to state the direct effect of changes to temporary measures on insolvency volumes.

2. Things you need to know about this release

This monthly series supplements the Insolvency Service’s quarterly company and individual insolvency National Statistics to provide more up to date information, as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues, on the numbers of companies and individuals who are unable to pay debts and enter a formal insolvency procedure.

These statistics present monthly numbers of individual and company insolvencies in England & Wales and Northern Ireland. For Scotland, only monthly company insolvency statistics are presented. Until May 2021, monthly individual insolvency statistics for Scotland were published on the Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) website. However, this publication has now been discontinued as per this bulletin. Quarterly statistics on the number of individual insolvencies in Scotland continue to be published.

All figures presented within this release are provisional and subject to review. Further detail can be found in the accompanying Monthly Statistics Methodology and Quality document. Historical data presented within this statistical release may not be consistent with the previously published quarterly company and individual insolvency National Statistics.

For individuals, the Breathing Space scheme, launched on 4 May 2021, gives people legal protections from their creditors for 60 days, with most interest and penalty charges frozen, and enforcement action halted. Because problem debt can be linked to mental health issues, these protections are also available for people in mental health crisis treatment – for the full duration of their crisis treatment plus another 30 days. The number of breathing space registrations are included in these monthly statistics. Individuals that register for breathing space may or may not end up entering a formal insolvency procedure. Those that do enter a formal insolvency procedure will be counted accordingly in Tables 3 to 6 of the accompanying tables.

New monetary eligibility limits for Debt Relief Orders in England & Wales came into effect on 29 June 2021. This included the level of debt at which people can apply for a DRO being increased from £20,000 to £30,000, as well as other changes as described in the Glossary. More people are now able to access this form of debt solution as a result of these changes.

2.1 Interpretation of these statistics

Please note that some caution needs to be applied when interpreting these statistics. Notably:

• The underlying monthly data have not been seasonally adjusted and therefore comparisons are made with the same month in the previous two years rather than with the previous month.
• Individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) are reported based on date of registration at the Insolvency Service, rather than date of approval. There can be a delay between month of approval and month of registration. Due to the volatility of the underlying data on registered IVAs, three-month rolling averages have also been presented to smooth out the data. However, neither counts nor three-month rolling-averages are reliable enough to indicate short-term IVA trends.
• This statistical release presents the numbers of creditors’ voluntary liquidations (CVLs), administrations, company voluntary arrangements (CVAs) and receivership appointments based on their registration date at Companies House, and therefore reflect company insolvency registrations rather than insolvency procedure start dates.

3. Company and Individual Insolvencies in England and Wales

In this release comparisons are made to both December 2020, which was during the COVID-19 pandemic, and December 2019 which was before the start of the pandemic.

3.1 Company Insolvencies

This statistical release presents the numbers of CVLs, administrations, CVAs and receivership appointments based on their registration date at Companies House, and therefore reflect company insolvency registrations rather than insolvency procedure start dates. Compulsory liquidation data are sourced by the Insolvency Service and provide an accurate measure of the number of new cases in each month. Data for the latest month were extracted from a live system five working days after month end and therefore figures are provisional.

The number of company insolvencies was 33% higher than in the pre-pandemic comparison month (December 2019). Company insolvencies were also 20% higher than in December 2020, despite a single-month spike in the December 2020 numbers compared to surrounding months.

The increase in company insolvencies was driven by an increase in the number of CVLs, which were 73% higher than pre-pandemic levels.

Of the 1,486 registered company insolvencies in December 2021:

• There were 1,365 CVLs, which is 37% higher than in December 2020 and 73% higher than in December 2019;
• 42 were compulsory liquidations, which is 2% lower than December 2020, and 75% lower than December 2019;
• seven were CVAs, which is 84% lower than December 2020 and 67% lower than December 2019;
• There were 72 administrations, which is 52% lower than December 2020, and 49% lower than December 2019; and
• There were no receivership appointments.

Figure 1 shows the historical trend of company insolvencies covering the past 25 months. Monthly numbers back to January 2019 can be found in Table 1 of the accompanying tables.

Figure 1: The number of registered company insolvencies in December 2021 was similar to pre-pandemic levels, driven by a higher number of CVLs.

England and Wales, December 2019 to December 2021, Not seasonally adjusted

Sources: Insolvency Service (compulsory liquidations only); Companies House (all other insolvency types)

Between 26 June 2020 and 31 December 2021, in England & Wales, 15 moratoriums were obtained and 10 companies had a restructuring plan registered at Companies House. These two new procedures were created by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020.

Monthly company insolvency data for England & Wales can be found in the accompanying tables. Further breakdowns of company insolvencies by Standard Industrial Classification (SIC 2007) are also presented to three-digit level.

3.2 Individual Insolvencies

In this statistical release the numbers of DROs and bankruptcies are presented separately to numbers of IVAs, as IVA numbers have been calculated using different methodology. Further details are provided in the IVA results section below.

Data for the latest month were extracted from a live system five working days after month end and are subject to change. Therefore, figures are provisional.

Debt relief orders and bankruptcies

There were 1,872 DROs and 434 bankruptcies in December 2021 in England & Wales.

The number of DROs in December 2021 was 51% higher than in December 2020 but 10% lower than in December 2019. Changes to DRO eligibility came into effect on 29 June 2021, including an increase in the level of debt at which people can apply for a DRO from £20,000 to £30,000 (as indicated on Figure 2). The increase in the number of DROs registered since June 2021 is likely to have been caused by this expansion of the eligibility criteria.

The bankruptcies were made up of 380 debtor applications and 54 creditor petitions. Monthly bankruptcy numbers between July 2021 and December 2021 were lower than those in 2020, which were already lower than pre-pandemic levels.

Bankruptcies were 47% lower than in December 2020. Debtor applications were 49% lower and creditor petitions were 33% lower than in December 2020.

Compared to December 2019, total bankruptcies were 60% lower; debtor applications were 59% lower and creditor petitions were 66% lower.

Figure 2 shows the historical trend of bankruptcies and DROs covering the past 25 months. Monthly numbers back to January 2019 can be found in Table 3 of the accompanying tables.

Figure 2: Following a change in DRO eligibility criteria in June 2021, the number of DROs has increased. Bankruptcies have remained lower than both pre-pandemic and 2020 levels.

England and Wales, December 2019 to December 2021, Not seasonally adjusted

Source: Insolvency Service

The lower numbers of DROs and debtor bankruptcies over the past 21 months corresponds with a reduction in applications for these services, which coincided with the announcement of enhanced government financial support for individuals and businesses since the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic.

Monthly data on DROs and bankruptcies in England & Wales can be found in the accompanying tables, including bankruptcies by employment status. Bankruptcies amongst the self-employed are also presented to the two-digit Standard Industrial Classification (SIC 2007). Due to the small numbers reported it is not feasible to present this information to a three-digit level.

Individual voluntary arrangements

The underlying data for IVA registrations are volatile from one month to the next, so month on month comparisons are not valid. It is particularly important to consider longer term trends when making assessments of IVAs.

Three-month rolling averages are presented to smooth the data and indicate what the overall trend of IVA registrations might look like if the underlying data were less volatile. Further information on the volatility of the IVA data, and the calculation of three-month rolling averages can be found in the accompanying Monthly Statistics Methodology and Quality document. For transparency, both counts and three-month rolling averages are presented in Figure 3 and in the accompanying tables. Whilst three-month rolling averages are used to consider potential changes in IVA trends over time, both sets of numbers should be used with caution.

There were, on average, 6,648 IVAs registered per month in the three-month period ending December 2021, 16% lower than for the three-month period ending December 2020 but 15% higher than the three-months ending December 2019.

Figure 3 shows the historical trend covering the past 25 months. Monthly numbers back to January 2019 can be found in Tables 4 and 4.1 of the accompanying tables.

Figure 3: Although the series is volatile, the number of IVAs registered per month has remained similar to pre-pandemic levels

England and Wales, December 2019 to December 2021, Not seasonally adjusted

Source: Insolvency Service

IVA registrations presented in Figure 3 are the numbers of registrations with the Insolvency Service in each month. The rolling three-month averages presented are mean average number of registered IVAs in the three months ending in the reference period. For example, the three-month rolling average estimate for December 2021 is the calculated mean average of the total IVA registrations during October, November and December 2021.

Breathing Space Registrations

Between 4 May (when the scheme was launched) and 31 December 2021 there were 41,127 breathing space registrations. These composed of 40,503 standard breathing space registrations and 624 mental health breathing space registrations (for those receiving mental health crisis treatment).

In December 2021 there were 4,196 breathing space registrations. This was made up of 4,092 (97.5%) standard breathing space registrations and 104 (2.5%) mental health breathing space registrations.

Monthly breakdowns can be found in Table 7 of the accompanying tables.

Figure 4: Since the launch of the Breathing Space scheme in May 2021, there have been approximately 4,000 to 6,000 registrations each month

England and Wales, May 2021 to December 2021, Not seasonally adjusted

Source: Insolvency Service

4. Company Insolvencies in Scotland

Legislation relating to company insolvency in Scotland is partly devolved. AiB, Scotland’s Insolvency Service, administers the Register of Insolvencies, which is a publicly accessible statutory register regarding the insolvency of individuals and businesses in Scotland, and includes company liquidations and receiverships.

This statistical release presents the numbers of CVLs, administrations, CVAs and receivership appointments based on their registration date at Companies House, and therefore reflect company insolvency registrations rather than insolvency procedure start dates.

In December 2021 there were 93 company insolvencies registered in Scotland, 63% higher than December 2020 and 4% higher than in December 2019. This was comprised of 17 compulsory liquidations, 73 CVLs and three administrations. There were no CVAs or receivership appointments.

Historically, the volume of company insolvencies registered in Scotland has been driven by compulsory liquidations. However, since April 2020, there have been more than twice as many CVLs as compulsory liquidations.

Figure 5 shows the historical trend of company insolvencies in Scotland covering the past 25 months. Monthly numbers back to January 2019 can be found in Table 8 of the accompanying tables.

Figure 5: In December 2021, the number of registered company insolvencies was similar to pre-pandemic levels

Scotland, December 2019 to December 2021, Not seasonally adjusted

Source: Companies House

Between 26 June 2020 and 31 December 2021, in Scotland, no moratoriums were obtained and two companies had a restructuring plan registered at Companies House. These two new procedures were created by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020.

Monthly company insolvency data for Scotland can be found in the accompanying tables. Further breakdowns of company insolvencies by Standard Industrial Classification (SIC 2007) are also presented to two-digit level. Due to small numbers it was not feasible to present this information to three-digit level.

Note that this statistical bulletin does not present monthly individual insolvency statistics for Scotland. Until May 2021, monthly individual insolvency statistics for Scotland were published on the Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) website. However, this publication has now been discontinued as per this bulletin. Quarterly statistics on the number of individual insolvencies in Scotland continue to be published.

5. Company and Individual Insolvencies in Northern Ireland

Company and individual insolvency in Northern Ireland is governed by separate, but broadly similar, legislation to England & Wales. Figures are presented separately.

5.1 Company Insolvencies

This statistical release presents the numbers of CVLs, administrations, CVAs and receivership appointments based on their registration date at Companies House, and therefore reflect company insolvency registrations rather than insolvency procedure start dates.

In December 2021 there were nine company insolvencies registered in Northern Ireland, this is the same as December 2020, but 72% lower than December 2019. This was comprised of seven compulsory liquidations, one administration and one CVA. There were no CVLs or receivership appointments.

Figure 6 shows the historical trend of company insolvencies in Northern Ireland covering the past 25 months. Monthly numbers back to January 2019 can be found in Table 10 of the accompanying tables.

Figure 6: Overall, numbers of registered company insolvencies have remained lower than pre-pandemic levels since the start of the first UK lockdown in March 2020

Northern Ireland, December 2019 to December 2021, Not seasonally adjusted

Sources: Companies House and Department for the Economy

5.2 Individual Insolvencies

In December 2021 there were 81 individual insolvencies in Northern Ireland, 48% lower than in December 2020, and 42% lower than December 2019. This consisted of 63 IVAs, 11 DROs and seven bankruptcies.

Figure 7: Overall, numbers of individual insolvencies have remained lower than pre-pandemic levels since the start of the first UK lockdown in March 2020

Northern Ireland, December 2019 to December 2021, Not seasonally adjusted

Source: Department for the Economy

Figure 7 shows the historical trend of individual insolvencies in Northern Ireland covering the past 25 months. Monthly numbers back to January 2019 can be found in Table 11 of the accompanying tables. It should be noted that there were no new individual insolvencies in Northern Ireland in April 2020 as a result of the lockdown measures being implemented by the Northern Ireland Executive which resulted in the closure of the Courts and Insolvency Service offices in the region.

6. Data and Methodology

6.1 Data Sources

Company insolvency data for England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are sourced from Companies House, except for compulsory liquidation data for England & Wales and Northern Ireland. Compulsory liquidation data for England & Wales are sourced from the Insolvency Service case information system (ISCIS). Compulsory liquidation data for Northern Ireland are sourced from the Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland.

Individual insolvency data for England & Wales are sourced from ISCIS; individual insolvency data for Northern Ireland are sourced from the Department for the Economy.

Individual breathing space data are sourced from the Breathing Space register, owned by HM Treasury (HMT), for which the Insolvency Service is a custodian.

Moratorium and Restructuring Plan data are sourced from Companies House.

More information on the administrative systems used to compile insolvency statistics can be found in the Statement of Administrative Sources.

6.2 Coverage

This statistical release presents company insolvencies for England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Individual insolvencies are presented for England & Wales, and Northern Ireland only. Individual insolvency statistics for Scotland can be found on the AiB website, although this publication has been discontinued as per this bulletin. Insolvency statistics for Scotland and Northern Ireland are presented separately to statistics for England & Wales since they may not be comparable as they are covered by separate legislation and policy responsibility lies with the devolved administrations.

6.3 Methodology and data quality

Detailed methodology and quality information for the monthly insolvency statistical releases can be found in the accompanying Monthly Statistics Methodology and Quality document.

The main quality and coverage issues to note:

1. This statistical release presents the numbers of CVLs, administrations, CVAs and receivership appointments based on their registration date at Companies House, therefore reflecting company insolvency registrations rather than insolvency procedure start dates.
2. There is known seasonality in the underlying data for most insolvency types. Any seasonality is normally adjusted before compiling insolvency statistics. However, these monthly data have not been seasonally adjusted so month-on-month comparisons may not be valid.
3. Data for the latest month were extracted five working days after month end. Since the administration systems are live systems there is an increased likelihood that figures will be revised in the future. Therefore, all figures in this release are provisional.
4. The sum of these monthly statistics may not equal previously published quarterly statistics, due to differing methodologies. In addition, the administrative systems used to capture data are live systems and are subject to amendments.
5. The underlying IVA data are volatile from one month to the next and create difficulty in constituting reliable short-term trends, since changes over time may be partly a result of IVA provider activity and not just true changes in numbers of IVAs. Therefore, in addition to counts of IVA registrations, three-month rolling averages have also been calculated to smooth the data and indicate what the overall trend of IVA registrations might look like if the underlying data were less volatile. For transparency, both the counts of IVA registrations and three-month rolling averages are presented in the statistics. However, both sets of numbers should be used with caution.
6. These statistics may not align with information published separately by Companies House, or with data extracted from the Gazette. Further information on why numbers may not align can be found in the accompanying Monthly Statistics Methodology and Quality.

Aggregate counts of moratoriums and restructuring plans were compiled for the whole period covering 26 June 2020 to 31 December 2021.

Data quality issues affecting underlying data on individual voluntary arrangements

Individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) are counted within these statistics once they are registered with the Insolvency Service, and they are reported by month of registration date. There is often a time lag between the date on which the IVA is accepted (known as the date of creditor agreement) and date of registration by licensed insolvency practitioners working for firms that specialise in this area, and changes in trends are often partly a result of how promptly and frequently providers register IVAs with the Insolvency Service. Therefore, these monthly statistics are considerably more volatile than the quarterly data published within the Quarterly Individual Insolvencies series, and comparisons of monthly numbers are unreliable.

In order to continue to provide timely, yet less volatile, information on IVAs, three-month rolling averages were calculated to smooth out the underlying data and present the overall direction of monthly trends. However, these statistics should still be interpreted with caution. See Methodology section of the accompanying Monthly Statistics Methodology and Quality document for further detail.

6.4 Revisions

These statistics are subject to scheduled revisions, as set out in the published Revisions Policy. Other revisions tend to be made as a result of data being entered onto administrative systems after the cut-off date for data being extracted to produce the statistics. There is an increased likelihood that published statistics for the most recent month will be revised in the future, because the data were only extracted five working days after month end. Any future revisions will be marked with an ‘[r]’ in the relevant table.

7. Glossary

7.1 Key Terms used within this statistical bulletin

Term	Definition
Administration	The objective of administration is the rescue of the company as a going concern, or if this is not possible then to obtain a better result for creditors than would be likely if the company were to be wound up. A licensed insolvency practitioner, ‘the administrator’, is appointed to manage a company’s affairs, business and property for the benefit of the creditors.
Bankruptcy	A form of debt relief available for anyone who is unable to pay their debts. Assets owned will vest in a trustee in bankruptcy, who will sell them and distribute the proceeds to creditors. Discharge from debts usually takes place 12 months after the bankruptcy order is granted. Bankruptcies result from either Debtor application – where the individual is unable to pay their debts, and applies online to make themselves bankrupt, or Creditor petition – if a creditor is owed £5,000 or more, they can apply to the court to make an individual bankrupt. These statistics relate to petitions where a court order was made as a result, although not all petitions to court result in a bankruptcy order.
Breathing Space	For individuals, the Breathing Space scheme, launched on 4 May 2021, gives people legal protections from their creditors for 60 days, with most interest and penalty charges frozen, and enforcement action halted. Because problem debt can be linked to mental health issues, these protections are also available for people in mental health crisis treatment – for the full duration of their crisis treatment plus another 30 days.
Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA)	CVAs are another mechanism for business rescue. They are a voluntary means of repaying creditors some or all of what they are owed. Once approved by 75% or more of creditors, the arrangement is binding on all creditors. CVAs are supervised by licensed insolvency practitioners.
Compulsory liquidation	A winding-up order obtained from the court by a creditor, shareholder or director. See Liquidation for details on the process.
Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation (CVL)	Shareholders of a company can themselves pass a resolution that the company be wound up voluntarily. See Liquidation for details on the process. Administrations which result in a Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation are recorded separately by Companies House and are excluded from CVL figures as they do not represent a new company entering into an insolvency procedure for the first time. These cases are only ever recorded as Administrations.
Debt Relief Order (DRO)	A form of debt relief available to those who have a low income, low assets and debt no more than a specified value. There is no distribution to creditors, and discharge from debts takes place 12 months after the DRO is granted. DROs were introduced in April 2009. A change in eligibility criteria was introduced from 29th June 2021 in which the upper limit of debt increased from £20,000 to £30,000. In addition, the threshold on the value of assets that a debtor can hold and be eligible to enter into a DRO increased from £1,000 to £2,000; the value of a single motor vehicle that can be disregarded from the total value of assets increased from £1,000 to £2,000; and the level of surplus income received by the debtor before payments should be made to creditors increased from £50 to £75 per month.
Deed of Arrangement	An alternative way for a debtor to deal with their affairs than entering into bankruptcy or an individual voluntary arrangement. Deeds of arrangement require the approval of a simple majority of creditors in number and value, and do not require a nominee, report to court or a meeting of creditors to be held.
Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA)	A voluntary means of repaying creditors some or all of what they are owed. Once approved by 75% or more of creditors, the arrangement is binding on all. IVAs are supervised by licensed Insolvency Practitioners.
Liquidation	Liquidation is a legal process in which a liquidator is appointed to ‘wind up’ the affairs of a limited company. The purpose of liquidation is to sell the company’s assets and distribute the proceeds to its creditors. At the end of the process, the company is dissolved – it ceases to exist. Statistics on compulsory liquidations and creditors’ voluntary liquidations are presented in these statistics. A third type of winding up, members’ voluntary liquidation is not included because it does not involve insolvency.
Moratorium	Moratoriums were introduced under the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 to give struggling businesses formal breathing space in which to explore rescue and restructuring options, free from creditor or other legal action. Except in certain circumstances, no insolvency proceedings can be instigated against the company during the moratorium period. It also prevents legal action being taken against a company without permission from the court.
Partnership Winding-up Order	This is similar to the liquidation of a company. When the partners have decided that the partnership has no viable future or purpose then a decision may be made to cease trading and wind up the partnership. There are two basic ways that the partnership can be wound up: the creditors petition and a partner’s petition.
Receivership Appointment	Administrative receivership is where a creditor with a floating charge (often a bank) appoints a licensed insolvency practitioner to recover the money it is owed. Before 2000, receivership appointments also included other, non-insolvency, procedures, for example under the Law of Property Act 1925.
Restructuring Plan	New restructuring measures were introduced under the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 to support viable companies struggling with unmanageable debt obligations to restructure under a new procedure. They allow the court to sanction a plan that binds creditors to a restructuring plan if it is fair and equitable. Creditors vote on the plan, but the court can impose it on dissenting classes of creditors (‘cram down’) provided that the necessary conditions are met.
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC 2007)	Used in classifying business establishments and other statistical units by the type of economic activity in which they are engaged. Further information can be found on the ONS website.