More than 830 directors have been banned following Covid loan abuse in 2023-24 with resulting recovery of almost £3m for the taxpayer, according to latest statistics from the UK’s Insolvency Service.
Statistics released in service’s Annual Report and Accounts on 23 July present a snapshot of work carried out in 2023-24.
The Insolvency Service’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2023-24 shows that over the year, the service took action resulting in 831 directors being disqualified due to Covid loan abuse, carried out 22 criminal prosecutions and took steps towards the recovery of nearly £3m.
The annual report also confirms that this hard work to tackle Covid loan abuse will continue in 2024-25.
As well as the work on Covid loan abuse, the Annual Report and Accounts also shows that more than 85,000 redundancy related payments were processed by the Redundancy Payments Service, with payments of £494m made to support people who had lost their jobs following their employer’s insolvency.
During the year, the Insolvency Service also secured the disqualification of a total of 1,222 directors for misconduct, carried out 139 live company investigations and obtained winding up orders for 45 companies which were acting contrary to the public interest.
The Insolvency Service’s chief executive, Dean Beale, said he was immensely proud of the work carried out across the agency.
He said: “This year’s Annual Report showcases how we are strengthening the insolvency regime to ensure it works effectively for all its stakeholders, whilst at the same time we continue to provide excellent service for all our customers.
“Our insolvency framework is rightly regarded as one of the best in the world and we want to maintain that reputation, keeping pace with the way people manage their affairs in today’s environment.
“The report also shows that Official Receivers handled almost 11,000 new insolvency cases and returned almost £60million to creditors – an increase of nearly £15million on the previous year.”
