A report out from the UK Insurer AXA suggests the UK public is drowning in debt with 11.6 million people (25 per cent of the adult population) saying are under pressure financially with a momentous number, around one million three hundred thousand people, admitting their finances are entirely unmanageable.

The report suggests that over 3.7 million people are reported to be struggling to cope with mounting credit card bills and just over a million people have borrowed too much money and are now struggling to keep up their repayments.

Half a million home owners have been threatened with a bailiff or eviction and personal county court judgements CCJs has increased in quarter 3 to their highest level since the start of 2007

The public interest Company that manages the register of judgements on behalf of the Lord Chancellor has reported that within England and Wales County Court Judgements rose by 17.4 per cent year on year to 223,519, its highest level since the beginning of 2007 and from the second quarter of 2008 this is a 25 per cent increase.

Individual insolvencies in England and Wales increased to 27,087 in the third quarter of 2008, up 8.8 per cent from 24,893 in the previous quarter.

Bankruptcies have increase by 12 per cent from 15,500 to just over 17,000 in the second part of the year and personal individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) are too up 3 per cent from the three months previous.

The treacherous economic conditions for people and business has created a rise in corporate and personal insolvency and the worsening economy is making the prospect of a further rise in insolvency further predictable through 2009.

It was hoped that the SIVA, planned for release in early 2009 would help with some of the debt burden, however, the Insolvency Service has just abandoned the concept.

Where an IVA needed 75 per cent of creditors to accept the proposal for insolvency a Simplified IVA or SIVA only required that a majority accept the terms. The SIVA was intended to be launched next year with a creditor cap of 75,000.

For the time being the options available to the equity challenged British public who are struggling with debt and are not wishing to go bankrupt is either seeking debt management advice or some form or individual insolvency arrangement.