Scottish personal insolvencies fall in March

Scottish personal insolvencies figures continued to decline in March 2021  according to latest figures released by Accountant in Bankruptcy (AIB), Scotland’s Insolvency Service which administers company liquidations and receiverships in Scotland.

The number of personal insolvencies (bankruptcies and protected trust deeds) in Scotland fell by 19% in January-March 2021 compared with October-December 2020, and fell by 47% compared with January-March 2020.

The figures .showed that there were 7,600 personal insolvencies in the 12 months to March 2021 (inclusive), 5,891 (43.7%) fewer than in the previous 12 months.

Bankruptcies decreased by 50.8% in the 12 months to March 2021 when compared with the previous 12 months.

PTDs decreased by 39.8% over the same period.

There were 3,676 approved DPPs under the Debt Arrangement Scheme in the 12 months to March 2021 compared with 3,130 for the previous 12 months, an increase of 17.4%.

As of 31st  March that there were  1,977 applications for moratoria had been granted under the new powers. There were 298 applications for moratoria granted in March 2021 under the new legislation, 217 more than in March 2020 under the previous provisions.

A revised bankruptcy application fee structure was introduced, initially through the Coronavirus (Scotland) (No. 2) Act 2020 and placed on permanent footing through the Bankruptcy (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2021.

In the period between 27 May 2020 and 31 March 2021, a total of 1,971 bankruptcy awards were made following applications submitted to AIB, all through the revised fee structure. Of this total, 1,533 (77.8%) applicants were not required to pay any fee at all.