Two articles in the Independent struck me over the weekend. Firstly the frightening figures from the Insolvency Service - there were 35,242 personal insolvencies in the 3 months to September. Up 28% on last year. Just over half were bankruptcies. The rest were a mixture of IVAs and the new debt relief order (DRO). Because of the lag of employment figures behind the recession, there is probably worse to come.
But on the same day, there was a report that the Ministry of Justice were sharpening the knives for dodgy Debt Management Companies. These guys charge clients huge sums to deliver a service they can obtain for free. They may include promises to write to debt off that they can never meet. How is it that a time when the UK is struggling with personal debt, the number of sharks in the water increases?
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