Islanders rack up £6.6million debt bill

Wednesday 31 January 2018

Islanders racked up a £6.6million debt bill last year – more than £1million of which came from just six consumers.

The figures were revealed by the Registry Trust today. They showed that while the number of islanders being slapped with a debt judgement by the court hit a historic low last year, the average value of each debt has rocketed.

Debt cases in the Petty Debts and Royal Court fell by as much as 50% from 2010 to 2017, from 3,489 to 1,724, according to figures released today by the Registry Trust.

The number of debt judgments against consumers decreased by 12% to 1,500, while there were 27 fewer judgments against businesses than in 2016, taking the total to 224.

For every 1,000 islanders, around 16 to 17 were handed a debt judgement.

Pictured: Debt judgements hit a historic low in 2017. The average debt stood around £3,815.

The number might be lower than England and Wales, who see around 20 per 1,000, but Jersey people are not as good at paying them off as their mainland counterparts. Just 9.8% of debts were satisfied in 2017, compared with 13.04% in England and Wales. 

The mean average value of each judgment increased by just under a third last year, rising to around £3,815. As a result, the total value of all judgments rose to £6.6 million, 15% more than the previous year.

The mean average in consumer judgments dramatically increased with a 117% hike. At the end of 2017, it stood at £2,940. This was driven by six large consumer judgments, which collectively were worth almost £1,250,000. Excluding these judgments, which disproportionately contributed to the scale of the increase, the mean average consumer judgment rose by 57% in value to £2,117.  

Business judgments also saw their median value increase with a 22% rise, reaching £2,216.

Malcolm Hurlston CBE, Chairman of the non-profit Registry Trust, which collects and collates judgement information, commented: “Jersey's economy can look forward to a bright 2018 - on the basis of our judgment stats for last year.

“There was generally sound borrowing and appropriate lending, leaving scope for more sensible borrowing in the current year.” 

In 2017, the Registry Trust received 30,635 requests to search the register for Jersey on their website. Their page, TrustOnline, allows anyone to search for judgments and similar information registered against consumers and businesses in any jurisdiction across the British Isles and Ireland.