"Over 2009 as a whole, there were 134,142 people declared insolvent in England and Wales. This was up 26% compared with 2008, and higher than the previous record - in 2006 - of 107,288. Records began in 1960."
There you go, I'm a record breaker - and I didn't even know it.
Update : I posted a comment on this page - in fact this:
I'm one of the 134,142 people declared insolvent last year - or to put it another way, I'm one of the 1 in 320 adults in England and Wales who became insolvent in 2009.
These days bankruptcy is seen as 'an easy way out of debt' - and I wouldn't be surprised if you received emails in this vein.
The truth is that bankruptcy is a terrifying experience. I'm about two and a half months into my bankruptcy and only now is my life attaining any level of normality - or rather a new normality. On my day in Court six of us were declared bankrupt - just average people that you would pass on the street - all walks of life, men, women, young, old.
What I would like everyone to know is that there are so many others out there living on this precipice - something like a million people. Before you judge these 134,142 individuals please remember the millions who are already sliding into this hole, and all those uncounted millions who are only one small disaster from being included in this year's figures. I hope you are not one of them.
These days bankruptcy is seen as 'an easy way out of debt' - and I wouldn't be surprised if you received emails in this vein.
The truth is that bankruptcy is a terrifying experience. I'm about two and a half months into my bankruptcy and only now is my life attaining any level of normality - or rather a new normality. On my day in Court six of us were declared bankrupt - just average people that you would pass on the street - all walks of life, men, women, young, old.
What I would like everyone to know is that there are so many others out there living on this precipice - something like a million people. Before you judge these 134,142 individuals please remember the millions who are already sliding into this hole, and all those uncounted millions who are only one small disaster from being included in this year's figures. I hope you are not one of them.
On the basis of this I received an email from a BBC journalist doing a piece on the bankruptees side of the story, and so was interviewed over the phone for something like 15 to 20 minutes. I hope I gave him useful information - I tend to suffer from verbal diarrhoea when I'm talking about something I'm passionate about. He said there was a possibility that this blog might get linked to - I hope so, if it reaches a wider audience and helps one more poor soul going through insolvency then it's all worthwhile.
Update 2 : No link, but still they managed to make me sound coherent - thanks BBC!
Update 3 : How nice of them - they added the link!
