Latest Bankruptcy Figure Should Ring Alarm Bells With Chancellor - Cable

7.19.10pm GMT Fri 4th Nov 2005

The Government today released new figures which show an increase on last year in individual insolvencies of 46%, and an increase of 33% in bankruptcy petitions. Analysis of the figures by the Liberal Democrats show that in England and Wales an individual becomes insolvent every 7 minutes, and a bankruptcy petition is filed every 9 minutes.

Commenting, Vince Cable MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, said:

"This is more evidence that high levels of personal debt are leading many people into financial difficulty and in extreme cases into bankruptcy.

"Despite bland reassurances to the contrary from the Government, personal debt is clearly an issue for many thousands of people.

"There is currently a considerable degree of irresponsible lending and aggressive marketing to individuals which leads to people taking on more debt. Lenders have an obligation to stop these practices and to provide greater levels of debt advice.

"The Government should be actively working with the financial services industry to achieve a national roll-out of independent advice centres, providing people with early access to financial health checks before they get into a crisis situation."