The move aims to stop perpetrators exploiting the insolvency register to trace victims’ personal details
People at risk of violence, including victims of domestic abuse, will no longer be charged a £318 fee to remove their personal details from public insolvency records, the government has announced.
The change removes a significant financial barrier for vulnerable people seeking to protect their safety by having their names and addresses taken off the Insolvency Register and the official public record. Ministers said the policy reform would ensure that survivors of abuse are not placed at further risk due to information that could be used by perpetrators to locate them.
Announcing the decision, Sarah Sackman KC, minister for courts and legal services, said the move was part of the government’s wider effort to strengthen protections for victims of domestic and economic abuse. “Women who experience domestic abuse can spend their lives on the run. They deserve protection,” she said. “The publication of victims’ personal details on the Insolvency Register must not be another tool perpetrators can use to torment their victims.”
Describing the change as “simple but vital”, Sackman added: “This reform could be the difference between a life of peace and one of fear. Abolishing this fee gives some degree of relief to the people who need it.”
The Insolvency Register records the names and addresses of people who have entered into insolvency arrangements, including bankruptcy and debt relief orders. It is publicly searchable online and has long been criticised by campaigners for exposing vulnerable individuals’ personal information.
Under previous rules, anyone applying to have their details removed had to apply for a Persons at Risk of Violence (PARV) Order, paying a fee of £318. For many victims of abuse, particularly those facing financial hardship, this cost proved prohibitive.
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The government’s decision follows sustained pressure from charities and campaigners who argued that survivors of domestic and economic abuse were being forced to choose between safety and solvency.
Sam Smethers, chief executive of the charity Surviving Economic Abuse, welcomed the abolition of the fee. “Until now, survivors have been forced to pay extra just to stay safe and avoid having their names and addresses published on a public insolvency database,” she said. “This blocked many from accessing vital insolvency options because perpetrators’ economic abuse left them unable to afford the fee.”
Smethers described the change as “an important step towards ensuring survivors can seek protection without taking on yet more financial burden when trying to resolve coerced debts.”
The charity has previously warned that perpetrators of domestic abuse often exert control through financial means, coercing victims into debt or damaging their credit records. These victims, the organisation says, are among those most likely to need insolvency options to rebuild their financial independence.
The reform is expected to benefit hundreds of people each year who qualify for protection under the PARV Order system. It also reflects a growing recognition within government of the ways in which economic abuse intersects with legal and administrative processes.
Campaigners have called for further reforms to improve confidentiality for vulnerable individuals across other areas of law, including family court and property records, where personal details can also become accessible to the public.
The Ministry of Justice said the decision to scrap the fee had been taken following consultation with victim support organisations, insolvency practitioners and the Insolvency Service. It forms part of the government’s broader work to improve the justice system’s response to domestic and gender-based violence, alongside recent family law reforms prioritising child and survivor safety.
The reform takes immediate effect, meaning that individuals applying for a PARV Order in connection with insolvency proceedings will no longer be required to pay the £318 fee. The government said it will monitor the impact of the change and continue to work with charities to identify further barriers facing survivors of abuse in the legal system.