Insolvency petitions against individuals up at 23,830 in 2012

Prague, Jan 6 (CTK) - The number of insolvency petitions against individuals last year increased by 35 percent or 6,230 to 23,830 and the growth is getting slower, the company Creditreform has said.

The year 2011 registered a rise of 67 percent and a year earlier it was 149 percent, the company said.

The upward trend will continue, however, Jiri Markvart, a lawyer at Ambruz & Dark/Deloitte Legal, told CTK.

Since the year 2008 when the new insolvency law came into force an ever higher number of debtors are filing for insolvency during the crisis as a way to avoid distraint, he said.

"Let's hope that the pace of growth will decrease again this year," said Markvart.

A total of 23,179 people asked for debt settlement, an annual rise of 46 percent. Debts of 412 debtors were settled through the sale of property last year. A payment schedule has been set up in the rest of the cases.

Most debtors are in the age group of 31 to 40 years, followed by consumers aged between 41 and 50 years.

People older than 61 years are the least indebted group.

Significant changes in the pace of growth of insolvency petitions or even their fall cannot be foreseen for the year 2013, the reason being weaker consumer demand caused by VAT hikes and pessimistic forecasts for 2013, said Creditreform.

Insolvency petitions against individuals in Czech Republic:
month individuals 2011 2012
January 1010 1671
February 1284 1913
March 1554 2146
April 1299 2035
May 1523 1940
June 1573 2008
July 1273 1927
August 1529 2048
September 1526 1760
October 1554 2213
November 1761 2295
December 1714 1874
total 17,600 23,830

Source: Creditreform