Bankruptcies down in Sussex

2:03pm Sunday 18th May 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

Sussex is bucking a national trend with the number of people bankrupting themselves in the county on the decline.

Latest figures show Sussex bankruptcies are down by 6% whereas across the rest of the country the number of bankruptcies has risen for the first time in nine months.

Figures released yesterday (FRI) by the Ministry of Justice show the number of people declaring themselves bankrupt across Sussex has fallen in the last quarter.

The latest statistics show a 6% fall in people petitioning for their own bankruptcy, as opposed to being forced into bankruptcy by a creditor, from 431 cases in the fourth quarter of 2007 to 403 cases in the first quarter of 2008.

Figures were driven by a 14% decline in Brighton as the number of people declaring themselves bankrupt fell from 329 in the last quarter of 2007 to 284 in the first three months of this year.

But Hastings and Eastbourne were representative of the national trend and the number of people declaring themselves bankrupt there rose.

In Hastings the figure was up 26% in the last quarter of 2007 to 73 in the first quarter of this year. In Eastbourne the number rose by 5% to 46.

Nationally the first three months of 2008 saw an increase of 11% in the number of people making themselves bankrupt compared to the previous quarter.

Mark Sands, director of personal insolvency for accountancy firm KPMG in the South East, said: "Even with base rates starting to fall consumers are seeing the cost of their mortgages increase, fuel costs continue go up and now food prices are rising in a manner not seen for years.

"More than one million home owners face the end of cheap fixed rate deals this year. Mortgage deals are increasingly difficult to secure and unsecured lending has tighter restrictions than for many years as a result of the credit crunch.

"Consumers are faced with a barrage of bad news with no sign of a respite.

"While many individuals will decide to take formal steps to deal with their over indebtedness in the months ahead, driving personal insolvencies higher, many others may be able to take advantage of informal arrangements and tighter budgeting to avoid the worst effects of over indebtedness.

"The message to everyone in difficulty is to take advice on all the options and then to act on that advice."

Are you struggling to cope with the credit crunch? Tell us your story at theargus.co.uk/news