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.

AXA reported that mounting credit card bills are now putting just close to 3.8 million people under intense financial pressure and a further one million of UK borrowers are now struggling to keep up their repayments.

County Court Judgements CCJ’s issued to the personal consumer has increased to their highest level since the beginning of 2007 and half a million home owners with mortgages where threatened with repossession or court action.

In England and Wales CCJs rose by 17.4 per cent year on year to 223,519, their highest level since the first quarter of 2007, according to figures published by the Registry Trust, the public interest company which manages the register of judgements, orders and fines on behalf of the Lord Chancellor. This represents an increase of 24.8 per cent from the second quarter of 2008.

Personal Insolvencies within England and Wales rose to just of twenty seven thousand in quarter 3 of 2008 which represents an 8.8 percent increase from just less that 25,000 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 sharp rise in corporate and individual insolvencies merely reflects the treacherous economic conditions people and businesses continue to face through this deteriorating recessionary backdrop; making an even sharper rise in both business and personal insolvencies look inevitable in the coming quarters of 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.

A simplified version of the IVA, for consumers with debts up to 75,000 and that would only require approval by a simple majority of creditors rather than the 75 per cent majority under normal IVAs, was due to be introduced in April 2009.

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.