Insolvency statistics released for April 2021

Company and individual insolvencies numbers have fallen once again

The latest monthly release of insolvency statistics for England and Wales was published on the 18 May  2021. *

Overall, the numbers of registered company insolvencies have remained low since the start of the first UK lockdown in March 2020, when compared with pre-pandemic levels..

In April 2021 there was a total of 925 registered company insolvencies which is lower than last month (992). The insolvencies comprised  819 CVLs, 26 compulsory liquidations, 75 administrations and 5 CVAs. There were no receivership appointments.

Impact of COVID-19 business support measures

The overall low numbers are likely to be at least partly driven by Government measures set up in response to the coronavirus (COVID 19) pandemic, including:

  • Reduced court and tribunal operations and reduced HMRC enforcement activity since the UK lockdown was applied
  • Temporary restrictions on the use of statutory demands and certain winding-up petitions (leading to company compulsory liquidations) from 27 April and extended further to 30 June 2021 under the extensions to the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act.
  • Enhanced Government financial support for companies and individuals.

As the Insolvency Service does not record whether an insolvency is directly related to the coronavirus pandemic, it is not possible to state its direct effect on insolvency volumes.

 

The statistics in detail – April 2021*

Company insolvencies

In April 2021 there was a total of 925 registered company insolvencies, comprised of:

  • 819  CVLs
  • 26 compulsory liquidations
  • 75 administrations
  • 5  company voluntary arrangements (CVAs)

There were no receivership appointments.

n April 2021, when compared with the number of company insolvencies registered in April 2020 and April 2019:

  • Compulsory liquidations were 74% lower than 2020 and 89% lower than 2019;
  • CVLs were 12% lower than 2020 and 20% lower than 2019;
  • CVAs were 76% lower than 2020 and 81% lower than 2019; and
  • Administrations were 48% lower than both 2020 and 2019.

New procedures introduced by CIGA 2020

Between 26 June 2020 and 30 April 2021, four companies obtained a moratorium and six companies had a restructuring plan registered at Companies House. These two new procedures were created by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020.The low number of cases of each of these new legislative tools since the Act came into force is likely to be as a result of the range of Government support provided to companies as mentioned above, including the range of temporary measures that apply until 30 June 2021

Debt relief orders and bankruptcies

For individuals, 812 bankruptcies and 1,425 Debt Relief Orders were registered. Bankruptcies and DRO numbers were both similar to April 2020, but lower than in April 2019 (pre-pandemic) by 46% (bankruptcies) and 40% (DROs).

The fall in DROs and debtor bankruptcies corresponds with a reduction in applications which coincided with the announcement of enhanced Government financial support for individuals and businesses.

The fall in creditor bankruptcies will likely have been a result of reduced HMRC enforcement activity during this period and in part, a result of reduced operational running of the courts.

Individual voluntary arrangements

There were, on average, 6,822 IVAs registered per month in the three-month period ending April 2021:

  • 22% higher than for the three-month period ending April 2020, and
  • 11% higher than the three-months ending April 2019.

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

Advice

We publish a summary of the reports here each month. For advice relating to support, insolvency or recovery options, please contact us.

* This content and data was reported in full in the Insolvency Service Statistics for April 2021 published 18 May 2021 – see the full report here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/monthly-insolvency-statistics-april-2021/commentary-monthly-insolvency-statistics-april-2021

Image source: The Insolvency Service Monthly insolvency statistics, April 2021