Insolvency practitioners under threat
The Office of Fair Trading has this week issued a damning report on the UK insolvency sector with a suggestion that fees are too high and recovery rates are too low. It would also appear that insolvency costs in the UK do not compare well to countries offering similar recovery rates around the world.
The report suggests that for every £5 billion of assets realised in the UK, the fees taken by administrators are in the region of £1 billion. There have been many complaints over the last few years with regards to fees charged and recovery rates for unsecured and even secured lenders. It looks as though there will be major changes in the insolvency industry in the months and years ahead but pushing through these changes will not be easy.
While there is no doubt that unwinding and untangling some business arrangements can take time and can be very expensive there have also been complaints about "rogue elements" within the industry. One major proposal is the introduction of an industry funded complaints body which would have the power to impose fines and return "overcharges" to creditors. It will be interesting to see how the industry reacts to this report and indeed how swiftly any changes are brought in.
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