Monthly insolvency statistics – May 2025

Corporate Insolvencies

England and Wales

In May 2025, there were 2,238 corporate insolvencies, 15% higher than May 2024.    

Creditors Voluntary Liquidations (“CVLs”) which totalled 1,734 were 13% higher than May 2024 and the highest monthly figure since June 2024.

Compulsory Liquidations (“WUCs”) totalled 354 and were 32% higher than May 2024 but slightly down on the 380 winding up orders last month.

There were 136 Administration appointments being 12% higher than May 2024. 

There were 14 CVAs in May 2025, 26% lower than May 2024.

The month, therefore, saw a higher number of procedures, bucking a trend of lower numbers in previous months driven by the number of CVL appointments.

Scotland

There were 133 company insolvencies registered in Scotland, 13% higher than May 2024. There were 72 compulsory liquidations, 56 CVLs and five administrations. There were no Receivership or CVA appointments.

Northern Ireland

In May 2025, there were 53 company insolvencies registered in Northern Ireland, 20% higher than May 2024. This is comprised of 13 CVLs, 33 compulsory liquidation, six administrations and one CVA.  There were no receivership.

Personal Insolvencies

England and Wales

There were 10,014 individual insolvencies in May 2025, with very similar figures in the previous months. There appears to be very little monthly movement in the numbers for each procedure at present, which may indicate that those procedures are becoming more appropriate in addressing the various needs of indebted individuals.

The number of Debt Relief Orders (DRO’s) was very similar to the numbers seen last month (3,841), although lower than the record high seen in June 2024 (4,353) with 3,783 applications in May.

Figures produced by the Insolvency Service recently revealed that 429 DRO applications had been refused or revoked between April 2024 and March 2025. This gives creditors some reassurance that the process is being properly monitored.

With DRO’s now increasingly being the debt solution of choice for many, bankruptcy numbers have decreased, with the total number of bankruptcies in May (648), being significantly lower than pre-pandemic levels.

In May there were 169 creditor petitions, which was up on the 2024 monthly average of 153, with HMRC leading the push on filing petitions.

Debtors’ applications are being replaced by DRO applications by many of those with liabilities up to £50,000, with debtors’ bankruptcy applications dropping to 479 in May.

Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVA) numbers over the past year have been lower than during 2022. However, the number of IVA’s registered in May (5,583) was higher than the same month last year.

A revised IVA protocol comes into effect from 1 July 2025 which aims to bring further clarity and certainty for both consumers and creditors. However, it remains to be seen how these changes will affect future IVA numbers.

There were 7,805 Breathing Space (BS) registrations in May. Standard BS registrations stood at 7,684 and there were 121 Mental Health BS registrations. This represented a slight increase than the previous month.

The numbers indicate a slight pause in the steady increase in BS applications since their introduction, although, this procedure is merely a pause in the process and the individuals concerned will still have to deal with their indebtedness.

The numbers suggest that those exiting a BS application are being sign-posted to a DRO as their chosen exit route once the BS period had expired.

Plans to modernise the current Personal Insolvency framework could result in a single gateway to enable people to access independent, regulated debt advice, via a digital platform, or dovetailed with the current BS scheme, which may see the removal of previous barriers into appropriate and regulated insolvency procedures.

Scotland

The Accountant in Bankruptcy produces individual insolvency statistics on a quarterly basis. Therefore, the numbers in this section are only updated once every 3 months.

The quarters referred to are calendar year quarters, such that Q1 2025 covers the period 1 January to 31 March 2025. In Q1 2025, there were 1,673 individual insolvencies in Scotland, which was 11% lower than in the same quarter of 2024.

The individual insolvencies were comprised of 1,078 protected trust deeds and 595 bankruptcies (also known as sequestrations), of which 299 went into bankruptcy via the minimal asset process route. The rules regarding bankruptcy differ to those in England and Wales, so numbers of bankruptcies are not directly comparable.

Northern Ireland

In May 2025, there were 102 individual insolvencies in Northern Ireland. This was 29% lower than in May 2024. There were 71 IVAs, 16 bankruptcies and 15 DROs.