A record 15 people entered insolvency every hour in 2010, as the total number of people filing for bankruptcies, IVAs and Debt Relief Orders reached around 135,000 – up from 2009’s high of 134,132 –said in a report by a leading insolvency practitioner.
The highest ratio of debt to income peaked for those aged 66 owed in credit card balances and unsecured loans.
Age Concern and Help the Aged found borrowers in their late 50s and early 60s owe on average at least four times as much in unsecured credit as their counterparts did a decade ago, and that a quarter of all people approaching state pension age have outstanding debts.
It is also increasingly likely that retirees are struggling to pay those debts. Last year, a record number of pensioners were plunged into insolvency, with the number rising faster than for any other age group – up 44% to 6,952.
Retirement Debts is seeing a growing level of enquiries relating to Equity Release, which is hardly surprising in view of the very low returns being seen from interest rates on savings which are relied upon by many retired people who have put money aside for years expecting to live on the income from those savings.
