UK Company Insolvencies (October 2025) - Compulsory Liquidations Jump, CVLs Still Dominant: What It Means for Collections
In this episode of Debt Matters, we break down the Insolvency Service’s latest company insolvency commentary for October 2025 and translate the stats into practical actions for debt collection and credit control teams.
Key headline: England and Wales recorded 2,029 registered company insolvencies in October 2025. That’s 2% higher than September 2025 (1,995) and 17% higher than October 2024 (1,739).
What’s driving the mix (England and Wales):
- 1,592 Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidations (CVLs)
- 301 Compulsory liquidations
- 119 Administrations
- 17 Company Voluntary Arrangements (CVAs)
- 0 Receiverships
3 takeaways for collections and credit control:
- Compulsory liquidations are the standout shift Compulsory liquidations were up 8% vs September 2025 and up 62% vs October 2024. For collections teams, this often shows up as more “end-stage” behaviour: urgent payment proposals, sudden disputes, requests for paperwork, and last-minute negotiation before matters tip into formal proceedings. The operational message: tighten escalation timelines and make evidence retrieval fast and repeatable.
- CVLs still make up most insolvencies CVLs accounted for 78% of the total and were up 11% year-on-year. This is where early intervention matters most. Once directors decide to place the company into liquidation, recoveries often depend on whether you spotted distress early, reduced exposure quickly, and kept your documentation clean enough to support a proof of debt and any dispute response.
- Administrations remain higher year-on-year Administrations were 3% lower than September 2025 but 19% higher than October 2024. When administration hits, classic chasing stops working. Your playbook becomes procedural: identify the administrator, pause inappropriate activity, submit claims correctly and on time, and preserve the contract-to-cash trail (POs, variations, delivery notes, acceptance, invoices, comms, dispute history).
Important note for practitioners: The Insolvency Service flagged that compulsory liquidation figures for England and Wales may be revised more than usual in the next release due to a case management system change around 1 November 2025 and the phase-out of the old system in the final week of October. If you track winding-up activity as an early warning signal, expect possible adjustments.
Risk context (useful for credit teams): Over the 12 months from 1 November 2024 to 31 October 2025, the rate was 1 in 187 companies on the Companies House effective register entering insolvency (53.4 per 10,000 companies). That’s slightly lower than the previous 12-month period.
Practical actions to take this week:
- Triage your ledger: identify accounts with broken promises, part-payments, or sudden disputes.
- Pull an “insolvency pack” for top balances: signed terms, POs, delivery/acceptance evidence, and a clean timeline of comms.
- Shorten decision windows: set clear internal triggers for escalation, holds, and credit limit reductions.
- Standardise your proof-of-debt workflow: faster submissions and fewer errors when cases tip into formal insolvency.
Devolved nations snapshot:
- Scotland: 115 insolvencies in October 2025 (61 CVLs, 50 compulsory liquidations, 4 administrations), same total as October 2024.
- Northern Ireland: 48 insolvencies in October 2025, 55% higher than October 2024 (35 compulsory liquidations, 12 CVLs, 1 CVA).
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