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Screensize: 640 x 480 800 x 600 1024 x 768 1280 x 1024 UserName: Password: Format Mode: Basic  Help  Prompt  Format: Font Andale Mono Arial Arial Black Book Antiqua Century Gothic Comic Sans MS Courier New Georgia Impact Lucida Console Script MT Bold Stencil Tahoma Times New Roman Trebuchet MS Verdana   Size 1 2 3 4 5 6   Color Black Red Yellow Pink Green Orange Purple Blue Beige Brown Teal Navy Maroon LimeGreen Message: * HTML is OFF * Forum Code is ON Smilies [quote][i]Originally posted by BankruptcyNews[/i] [br]Number of bankrupt pensioners doubles as debt crisis deepens The number of pensioners going bankrupt has more than doubled in the past five years as they take out loans they cannot handle. Rising household bills, costly home improvements and gifts and loans to their offspring are being blamed for the debt crisis facing the over-65s. A survey shows that the number delaring themselves insolvent – a step to avoid bankruptcy – may have risen ninefold since 2002. Accountants Wilkins Kennedy found that 7 per cent of all bankruptcies so far this year were among retired people. They blame rising interest rates and higher borrowing limits, with the elderly taking out loans to cope with rising food, fuel and council tax bills or helping their children and grandchildren get a foothold on the property ladder. Many stung by the state pensions crisis have also had to borrow after discovering on retirement that they cannot survive on their savings alone. Recent reports have estimated that the retired population in Britain owes a total of £57billion, with the average pensioner racking up a debt of £5,900 in credit cards and loans. According to research by Scottish Widows, a fifth of pensioners – more than a million people – are still saddled with a mortgage, with one in eight owing more than £50,000. Now experts are warning that the number of bankruptcies will rise as increasing numbers find they are unable to continue to pay off debts once their incomes fall on retirement. Recent research by the Alliance Trust suggests that pensioners have been hit hardest by rising inflation over the past four years. It calculated that the rate of inflation for over-75s is between 0.75 per cent and 1 per cent above the inflamenttion rate for the average householder. Keith Stevens, insolvency partner at Wilkins Kennedy, said: "Pensioners have to spend a great proportion of their income on necessities. "They feel the impact of rising petrol prices through higher energy bills and escalating food prices far more severely than the rest of the population. "Those who do not have indexlinked pensions may find that they are unable to maintain their standard of living. "Pensioners who are unable to scale back their spending on retire-may find that they run into financial difficulties very quickly." A total of 113,445 people in Britain were declared insolvent during the year to the end of June – up from just 30,587 people who became bankrupt or took out an individual voluntary arrangement in 2002. The report calculated that if a similar number of pensioners took out an IVA as went bankrupt during the period, the number of retired people going insolvent would have soared nearly ninefold – from around 900 in 2002 to more than 7,900 in the year to the end of June. Most of those who went bankrupt were not homeowners and had few assets to fall back on. There was also a higher than expected concentration of bankruptcies in rural areas where there are fewer opportunities for the elderly to find part-time work. Insolvency experts also fear that many pensioners are missing out on their benefits under Gordon Brown's confusing pension credit system. House prices stagnated for the second month running during September as confidence in the market faltered in the wake of the recent credit crisis, according to property group Hometrack. The average cost of a home remained unchanged at £176,300 during the month, while the annual rate of growth fell back to 5 per cent, down from 6 per cent in April. Source: dailymail.co.uk See my Blogs: http://bankruptcynews.blogs.bankruptcyhelp.org.uk [/quote]   Check here to include your profile signature.