According to the COIG data, in the first six months of 2024, courts in Poland declared 10.8 thousand consumers bankrupt. The National Debt Registry (KRD) states that the creditors of these debtors lost PLN 305.3 million. The number of insolvencies is higher than that of the same period last year. Still, consumer sentiment continues to improve. There has been an increased propensity to make significant purchases, including durable goods, reflecting in the data from both the Central Statistical Office (GUS) and GfK – an NIQ Company.
Last year did not end the trend of record numbers of consumer bankruptcies. In the first half of this year, courts approved the bankruptcy of nearly 10.8 thousand people, which is 318 more than in the same period in 2023. Almost half of the bankrupts (47.7 percent) had been registered with the National Debt Registry three years before bankruptcy was declared, 62 percent three months prior, and at the time of its imposition, 64% of bankrupts were listed. This shows that creditors could have avoided the loss of a significant portion of the PLN 305.3 million left in debt by the indebted.
Adam Łącki, President of the Management Board of the National Debt Registry, points out that consumer bankruptcy does not appear overnight. Most of the bankrupt people had been accumulating their financial problems for a long time. “Although current record levels are largely a consequence of the pandemic, as well as inflation and rising interest rates, it’s hard to predict when the situation will stabilize. This is especially considering forecasts of further inflation increases due to, among others, raises in electricity, gas, and water prices. The improvement in consumer sentiment is a positive indicator, but it’s essential to maintain common sense since excessive optimism can also lead to irrational credit purchases,” he adds.
Out of the 10.8 thousand consumers who went bankrupt in the first half of 2024, 6.9 thousand (64 percent) were listed in the National Debt Registry. They had a total of almost 20.8 thousand liabilities worth PLN 305.3 million. Insolvency most often affects people in middle age. The largest group were debtors aged 36-45 years who had 6.56 thousand unpaid installments and bills worth nearly PLN 89.6 million. The second-largest group were bankrupt people aged 46-55 years with 4.72 thousand liabilities amounting to over PLN 78 million. Insolvency risk declines after the age of 56 years.
Interestingly, the highest debts were found among individuals from smaller towns. Tczew county leads in this aspect, where each bankrupt person left almost PLN 256 thousand of unpaid liabilities.
Insolvent clients in the first half of 2024 had the largest debts with secondary creditors, such as securitization funds or debt collection companies, which mainly bought debts from financial institutions. They did not recover PLN 179.1 million. Non-repayable loans and credits amount to another PLN 109 million.
According to Jakub Kostecki, President of the Management Board of the debt collection company Kaczmarski Inkasso, these data clearly show that delaying debt recovery is unprofitable for all parties involved.
Source: https://managerplus.pl/rosnie-liczba-upadlosci-konsumenckich-w-polsce-29907
