A good indicator of the health of the economy is the volume of people filing for personal Bankruptcy or filing a Consumer Proposal . In 2009 there was overall a 30% increase in filings in Ontario over 2008. Now half way into 2010 we are seeing a 17% decrease in filings in Ontario. I’ve seen it in my Mississauga Bankruptcy office as well, though we are still busy, I sometimes get home from the office in time for dinner, which never happened in 2009.
Even more interesting is the split between the filings of Bankruptcies and Consumer Proposals between 2009 and 2010. Year over year for the same period, bankruptcy filings are down by 30% , but filings for Consumer Proposals are actually up by nearly 16% over 2009.
Changes to Bankruptcy law that makes personal bankruptcy both longer and more expensive has resulted in far more people choosing to make a Proposal to their creditors to resolve their debts. Overall this was the intention of the law changes, so it is nice to see the government do something that actually works as it was intended.
As a measure on the overall health of the economy bankruptcy statistics are interesting but they hardly tell the whole story. I see many people in my Mississauga Bankruptcy office that are still struggling with making their payments. Although many people are back working, often it is at reduced hours and reduced pay. For many of these people filing a Consumer Proposal is exactly the solution that they need to complete their recovery from the recession.
It’s nice to see that things are turning around and it is also heartening that many people are successful in dealing with their debt without bankruptcy. If you are still struggling maybe a Consumer Proposal is the solution you have been looking for. Call me today at 310-PLAN or click www.hoyes.com and lets get started.
