Recent statistics about the number of bankruptcies in the UK have been described as "understated".
The figures declared that the UK had seen a rise of 73 per cent in the number of people becoming insolvent this year, compared to last.
That took the total figure for the first three months of 2006 to 23,351.
This figure is now being disputed, with some experts claiming there are many more cases waiting to be processed.
"Since the end of January, the big banks have struggled to deal with the rise in the number of IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement) proposals," said Andrew Smith, marketing director of ClearDebt.
"We had to extend the period of time banks have to respond to our proposals from 14 to 21 days.
"So there must be hundreds, or maybe thousands of IVAs applications that haven't been recorded in these statistics," added Mr Smith.
With personal debt in the UK a growing problem, other commentators have speculated that the number of insolvencies in the UK could rise to as many as 60,000 by the end of the year.
