Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Scottish personal insolvencies in December 2020 fell 38.6% when compared with January 2020 numbers.
The figures released by Accountant in Bankruptcy (AIB), Scotland’s Insolvency Service which administers company liquidations and receiverships in Scotland showed that in January 2021 that there were 8,412 personal insolvencies in the 12 months to January 2021 (inclusive), 5,289 (38.6%) fewer than in the previous 12 months.
Bankruptcies decreased by 44.3% in the 12 months to January 2021 when compared with the previous 12 months. PTDs decreased by 35.5% over the same period.
There were 3,425 approved DPPs under the Debt Arrangement Scheme in the 12 months to January 2021 compared with 2,980 for the previous 12 months, an increase of 14.9%.
The introduction of new provisions on the statutory moratorium and the revised fee structures in place for accessing bankruptcy are part of emergency measures brought in by both the Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 and the Coronavirus (Scotland) (No.2) Act 2020.
As of 31 January 2021, 1,426 applications for moratoria had been granted under the new powers. In the period between 27th May and 31st January 2021 a total of 1,560 bankruptcy awards were made following applications submitted to AiB, all of which benefitted from the system of reduced application fees. Of this total, 1,218 (78.1%) applicants were not required to pay any fee at all.