Bankruptcy ‘soaring’ among retired Brits

The number of retired Britons who enter bankruptcy
on has been soaring in recent years, according to the latest figures.

Research by the Wilkins Kennedy accountancy firm, shows that close to 8,000 pensioners have been declared insolvent during the past 12 months, while in 2002 the corresponding figure stood at around 900.

Moreover, retired Britons now account for almost seven per cent of all bankruptcies in the UK, while the proportion was only three per cent five years ago.

Keith Stevens, insolvency partner at Wilkins Kennedy, said: “More and more pensioners are going bankrupt as they struggle to repay debts when their pension is their sole source of income.

“At the same time they are often unused to being offered high level of credit and may take on unmanageable levels of debt without considering how they will make repayments when their income falls back on retirement.”

Earlier this year, the accountancy company KPMG forecast that more than 130,000 people in England and Wales would be declared insolvent over the course of this year.