1,946 companies in England and Wales entered insolvency in August 2026, down 3% on 2,007 a year earlier. Over the last 12 months, 50.1 in every 10,000 companies became insolvent.
August 2026 was 22% below the 10-year peak of 2,483 in May 2023.
| Month | Total | CVL | Compulsory | Admin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2026 | 1,946 | 1,431 | 314 | 182 |
| July 2026 | 1,934 | 1,495 | 291 | 126 |
| June 2026 | 1,850 | 1,372 | 277 | 187 |
| May 2026 | 1,860 | 1,417 | 283 | 135 |
| April 2026 | 2,083 | 1,498 | 384 | 180 |
| March 2026 | 2,027 | 1,467 | 304 | 236 |
| February 2026 | 1,897 | 1,476 | 259 | 152 |
| January 2026 | 1,759 | 1,332 | 256 | 157 |
| December 2025 | 1,692 | 1,322 | 248 | 107 |
| November 2025 | 1,853 | 1,439 | 255 | 140 |
| October 2025 | 2,017 | 1,559 | 316 | 125 |
| September 2025 | 1,969 | 1,549 | 277 | 126 |
50.1 in every 10,000 companies in England and Wales became insolvent in the last 12 months. Scotland was 48.5 and Northern Ireland 40.5.
74% of insolvencies in August 2026 were creditors’ voluntary liquidations (1,431 of 1,946). Compulsory liquidations rose to 314 from 298 a year earlier.
The other 19 were company voluntary arrangements and receiverships.
Construction had the most company insolvencies: 3,866 over Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, 17% of the total.
Counts, not rates: sectors with more companies have more cases. Days to pay are the median for large companies in that sector.
When a customer becomes insolvent, unsecured suppliers rank behind secured creditors and preferential creditors such as employees and HMRC, and often recover little, so the time to act is while an invoice is still only late. UK credit control software sends the reminders and statements that keep overdue invoices moving, and the late payment interest calculator shows what the law lets you add to them.
For how long UK businesses wait to be paid across the whole economy, see the UK accounts receivable statistics.
Cite: Paidnice (2026). UK company insolvency tracker. https://www.paidnice.com/payment-times/uk/insolvencies. Source: Insolvency Service monthly company insolvency statistics, England and Wales, seasonally adjusted, September 2016 to August 2026. Industry counts: Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, not seasonally adjusted. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Insolvency Service company insolvency statistics.
Large UK customers take a median of 31 days to pay, and 15% of invoices run late. Paidnice sends the reminders and adds the late fees in Xero or QuickBooks, so you do not have to chase.
UK figures cover England and Wales. The payment-days figures come from UK payment practice reports, which cover payments to all suppliers.