Rochdale insolvency rate almost doubles in four years

Personal insolvencies in Rochdale have almost doubled in the past four years and are running at record levels, according to new government figures.

The figures, from the Insolvency Service, show that last year 479 people in the town were declared bankrupt or entered some other type of formal insolvency procedure, such as an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA). This compares to 254 in 2005.

However Rochdale’s personal insolvency rate of 30.8 per 10,000 people was slightly below the national average of 31.1.

The top location for personal insolvency in the North West was Blackpool with 49.1 while the lowest was Eden in Cumbria with just 20.6 personal insolvencies per 10,000 people.

R3, the trade body for insolvency practitioners, said debt was now a problem at all levels in society.

Jeremy Oddie, vice-chairman of R3 in the North West and a partner at accountants Mitchell Charlesworth, said: “Debt problems are widespread at present as we’ve been through a period of easy credit and a lot of people have borrowed more than they can afford. On top of that, some have lost their job or had their income reduced as a result of the recession.

“Personal insolvencies are now running at record levels and the indications are that the problem will get worse before it gets better. We estimate there are 500,000 people who are in informal insolvency procedures and therefore have not yet shown up on the figures, while R3 research suggests that nearly 1 million more are struggling with debt and have not yet sought help.

“We advise anyone who is in financial difficulty to seek advice sooner rather than later. There are solutions available but the sooner you get help, the easier things are to resolve. A qualified insolvency practitioner will be able to advise on the best option for you.”