Scottish personal insolvencies rise 38.9 per cent over last quarter

However, the data also revealed that the third quarter of 2015 (July to September) did see personal insolvencies fall year-on-year by 25.4 per cent.

The latest AiB figures show that personal insolvencies rose from 1,606 in Q2 2015 to 2,230 in Q3 2015.

The number of bankruptcies rose by 27.5 per cent from 757 to 965 and Protected trust deeds (PTDs) rose by 48.9 per cent from 834 to 1,265 indicating an increase in the number of middle class Scots going bust. PTDs tend to be used by individuals with assets and income.

Pamela Muir, head of Restructuring and Insolvency with leading lawyers Morisons LLP, explained: “For many Scots, personal indebtedness has become a way of life. Many tens of thousands of Scots live with debt levels that would have been unimaginable even ten or fifteen years ago and this at a time when interest rates have never been lower. Often these individuals will have been battling with the same debt for many years but simply paying the interest on the larger sum.”

“Then something unexpected occurs such as divorce, reduced hours or unemployment and these individuals suddenly find themselves struggling to continue to maintain their payments and they fall into insolvency. For example, the recent job losses in steel, and the oil and gas industries and the sectors which are dependent upon them may ultimately lead to an increase in the number of Scots who find they are no longer able to meet their debt repayments.”

Ms Muir added: “With rising personal insolvency numbers for the third quarter we now have around 200 Scots per week going through the insolvency process. This figure is much higher than historic levels of personal insolvency were in the recent past. I believe that we will continue to see this level of personal insolvency for some considerable time and that we may have reached a plateau of around 10,000 Scots a year going bust and that this is increasing once more.”