As predicted, individual insolvencies continue to rise over the 30,000 mark.

According to the latest figures from The Insolvency Service the number of individual insolvencies in England and Wales has reached a record quarterly high.

The third quarter of 2009 has recorded a figure of 35,242 individual insolvencies, up almost 30% compared to the same period in 2008.

Many analysts had predicted such a rise given the continued economic downturn and a lack of available credit.

Louise Brittain, Partner in Deloitte’s Contentious Insolvency Group, said that the type of insolvency cases will continue to change, ranging from homeowners struggling to repay mortgages, to sole traders.

“These figures are overwhelming but not surprising, and unfortunately the end is not in sight. I fully expect that by the year end, 2009 will have broken all personal insolvency records, with the total number of petitions likely to exceed the 130,000 mark.

The number of company insolvencies however, has demonstrated an upturn. According to the government figures there were 4,716 compulsory liquidations and creditors’ voluntary liquidations in England and Wales in Q3. This number is a decrease of 4.7% compared to the previous quarter, although it is an increase of 14.6% compared to Q3, 2008.

Graham Rusling, Managing Director for Barclays Business Support and Recoveries, commented on the statistics: “At Barclays we have maintained robust risk controls around lending to sectors such as commercial property compared with some of our peers, which has assisted in keeping the number of corporate failures we have witnessed lower in relative terms than during the previous recession in the early 90s, as has a much greater focus on restructuring over insolvency.”