Individual Insolvencies 14% Above Last Year: Tracing Debtors After the July 2026 Figures

Individual Insolvencies 14% Above Last Year: Tracing Debtors After the July 2026 Figures

Personal insolvency stayed high in July 2026, and for anyone owed money by an individual the release is a reminder that tracing debtors usually comes before any decision to enforce. The Insolvency Service reported that 11,926 people entered insolvency in England and Wales in the month, a figure 14 per cent higher than in July 2025.

Inside the July 2026 individual insolvency figures

The 11,926 total, published on 18 August 2026, was similar to June but well up on a year earlier. It consisted of 664 bankruptcies, 3,820 debt relief orders and 7,442 individual voluntary arrangements. Setting aside December 2025, when a backlog was cleared, the number of individual voluntary arrangements was the highest in a single month since November 2022. Debt relief orders were slightly lower than in June and below the average of the past year, while bankruptcies fell from June but stayed above the July 2025 level. The predominance of voluntary arrangements matters to creditors, because an individual voluntary arrangement binds most unsecured creditors to agreed terms while leaving the person free to move on with their life and, sometimes, their address. The individual insolvency statistics for July 2026 set out the full breakdown by procedure and region.

The rate and the Breathing Space picture

In the twelve months to 31 July 2026, one in 360 adults entered insolvency, a rate of 27.8 per 10,000. That was up from 24.3 per 10,000, or one in 412, in the year to July 2025. There were 5,248 Breathing Space registrations in July 2026, 38 per cent lower than in July 2025, a fall the Insolvency Service links to changes among debt advice providers. Breathing Space gives a debtor a period of protection from most enforcement action, so its use is an early signal that a person is in difficulty and that any creditor should check its position before acting. The next release is scheduled for 18 September 2026. For a creditor, the steady flow of individual arrangements is the backdrop to a recurring practical problem: finding the person, and confirming their circumstances, before doing anything else.

 

Why the numbers put tracing debtors first

A debt relief order or a voluntary arrangement does not, by itself, tell a creditor where the individual now lives or what their means are. People move, change names on marriage or separation, and drift away from the address a file was opened with. Before spending on a claim, a creditor needs to know the person can be located and served. That is where tracing debtors begins, with confirming a current address and identity from lawful public and credit record sources rather than guesswork. A people tracing instruction is often the cheapest step in the whole exercise, and it is usually the one that saves the most wasted cost further down the line.

How tracing debtors works before recovery

A tracing agent verifies where a debtor lives, confirms the individual is the right person, and gathers what is known about their circumstances so a creditor can judge whether recovery is realistic given any insolvency procedure already in train. Distinguishing between two people of the same name, or catching that a debtor has moved abroad, can decide whether a claim is worth issuing at all. Done properly, and within the way tracing agents find people lawfully, the work keeps enforcement steps and court fees from being wasted on an address the person left months ago. Fill in the form below to speak to the Tremark team about a recovery matter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does an insolvency procedure stop tracing debtors being worthwhile?

No. Confirming a current address and identity still matters for serving notices, checking which procedure applies and deciding whether recovery is worth pursuing.

Is locating an individual debtor lawful?

Yes, when it is done under a proper lawful basis using regulated public and credit record sources, which is how a professional tracing agent operates.