Individual insolvencies, June 2026

Individual insolvencies in England and Wales rose by 8 percent in June 2026 compared with the same month a year earlier, according to figures released by the Insolvency Service, as the prolonged period of elevated interest rates and the persistent cost-of-living pressures continued to push households into financial difficulty.

The data show that 9,847 individuals entered insolvency during the month, comprising 5,423 individual voluntary arrangements, 3,112 debt relief orders and 1,312 bankruptcies. The increase was driven primarily by a sharp rise in debt relief orders, the mechanism designed for people with low incomes and few assets, which rose by 23 percent year-on-year.

The figures paint a picture of a population under sustained financial pressure. While the headline rate of inflation has fallen from its peak, the cumulative effect of three years of elevated prices — particularly for food, energy and housing — has eroded household financial resilience. The Bank of England's interest rate, while no longer rising, remains at a level that has made mortgage and credit payments significantly more expensive for millions of households.

The Insolvency Service noted that the figures remained below the peak levels seen during the financial crisis of 2008-09, when individual insolvencies regularly exceeded 12,000 per month. But the trend is clearly upward, and debt advice charities report that demand for their services is at record levels and that the profile of people seeking help has shifted to include more middle-income households and mortgage-holders.

The government has said it is monitoring the situation and has pointed to the support measures it has introduced, including the Household Support Fund and the Breathing Space scheme for people in problem debt. But debt charities argue that these measures are insufficient to address the scale of the problem and have called for a fundamental review of the consumer credit market.