One person every 51 seconds 'will declare bankruptcy'

As many as 391 people every day of the year will declare bankruptcy, according to one organisation, amounting to one individual every 51 seconds during the working day.

Research from Credit Action UK found that a total of £9.6 billion worth of loans to individuals was written off by banks and building societies in the 12 months leading to the end of March 2010.

In the first three months of the year alone, £2.13 billion was written off, equivalent to £23.35 million per day, the study showed.

Total personal debt across the country equalled £1,457 billion by the end of June, with the average household owing £57,908 including mortgages and the typical arrears of each British adult coming in at £29,928.

However, the amount that of money each home is required to pay off is expected to drop at a rate of £0.32 per day.

This follows a report by Accountant in Bankruptcy, which showed that the number of personal insolvency cases decreased by 15 per cent in the 12 months leading to the end of March.

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Anyone looking to remortgage their home to deal with debt management issues may struggle because of the falling house prices.

One of the signs a person may be struggling with debt management is that they only ever make minimum repayments on their credit card, one organisation has said.

Debt management problems in the UK could still be prevalent after new figures from the Bank of England showed record amounts of write-offs for credit cards.

There was an increase in the number of people looking for debt management advice from Citizen's Advice Bureaux in the first three month of 2010.

Filing for bankruptcy in cases of financial difficulty may not necessarily always be the easy option.

Homelessness in Scotland may be being caused by poor debt management, with a recent study showing a number of cases are due to mortgage arrears.

Debt management could affect pensioners, with living costs and inflation rising

Those going to university should make sure they draw up a monthly budget to avoid finding themselves with debt management problems, it has been advised.

If interest rates were not at an historic low, there would be more people struggling with debt management, one expert has said.

Thousands of new debt management cases are being seen by Citizen's Advice Bureaus every day, it has been revealed.