AUTO INSURANCE INFORMATION

Overwhelming debt doesn??™t just happen overnight. The majority of the American public live from paycheck to paycheck. It only takes one accident or illness

to put you behind in your debts. Once you are behind it is possible that you may never catch up. This does not make you a bad person, just one that is in need of rescue. That help can come in the form of a bankruptcy. If you are like most people you have no idea how to do this and what is involved.

Filing bankruptcy is done through the court system. It is possible for you to do this on your own, but not very advisable. If you decide to do this on your own, you need to research this process. There are do-it-yourself kits on the Internet and companies that offer this service. You will need lots of patience to attempt this and hope you don??™t make mistakes.

Your first decision in getting ready to file bankruptcy is what type you want to file. Chapter 7 bankruptcy involves selling your assets and dividing the proceeds among your creditor. Chapter 13 is working with your creditors to stop their interest and accepting smaller payments over a period of time. This is not a decision that you want to rush into. You can find information on the Internet, in your local library or by consulting with other people.

If you don??™t think you can handle doing it yourself, your safest bet is to contact a lawyer who deals with bankruptcy. They will have the forms that need to be completed and will know how to handle these issues in the court system. Even with an attorney, a bankruptcy will take time but when it is completed you know that everything was done, as it should have been. Bankruptcy may not be what you want to do but if you have to, then do it correctly.

The primary purpose of bankruptcy is to allow a debtor a fresh start of his or her financial life again. Recently, the law has changed. There are further evaluations of a person??™s financial state, and more requirements for obtaining the debt discharge. Some states have varying exemptions for bankruptcy. The debtor should closely examine the exemptions in their state of residence. In addition, the debtor??™s attorney will go over the entire bankruptcy process and any specific state exemptions as well.

The State of California has two different sets of exemptions regarding the bankruptcy process. The debtor must choose one set of exemptions, and the qualified bankruptcy attorney will be able to assist in the decision of the right set of California exemptions for the debtor.

Both sets of California bankruptcy exemptions are separated into asset, homestead, personal property, insurance, pensions, public benefits, tools of the trade, wages, and miscellaneous categories. The debtor should become intimately familiar with all of these categories of California bankruptcy exemptions. The debtor??™s attorney will be able to determine whether which set is the correct one to employ for the bankruptcy process.

Most of the California bankruptcy exemptions are easy to understand and can be found through online sources and a qualified bankruptcy attorney will be able to assist the debtor. The tools of the trade category refers to tools, implements, materials, instruments, uniforms, books, furnishings, equipment, vessel, motor vehicles from $5,000 to $10,000 total if used by both spouses in same occupation. The motor vehicle cannot be claimed if under tools of trade exemption.

When you take the time to view the statistics of bankruptcy you will be alarmed and shocked. In a years time form 2006 to 2007 the number of bankruptcy

filings increased by 39,365. On June 30th, 2006 it was recorded that for the year a total of 91,674 people filed for bankruptcy. On June 30th, 2007 it was recorded that for the year a total of 91,674 people had filed for bankruptcy.

The rises in chapter 7 bankruptcies are steadily climbing and are not showing any chance of ceasing. The numbers of those who have filed for bankruptcy are the highest since the new bankruptcy laws of 2005 were set in place. The highest bankruptcy rates by state include Tennessee, Utah, Georgia and Alabama.

Other bankruptcy statistics are just as jaw dropping. Comparing Non-business to business filings you may be surprised. In 2006, the number of bankruptcies was 597,965 for Non-Business cases. Only 19,695 bankruptcies were filed by businesses in 2006.

When it comes to personal bankruptcies over half of those who file have experienced a serious health condition. Two out of three fliers have lost their job and 44% of filers are couples. More women than men file for bankruptcy. Women are rated at 30% while men rank at 26%. Sadly less than 9% of those who file for bankruptcy have not suffered job loss, medical expenses or divorce. These cases are often due to poor financial choices. The top ranking cause of bankruptcy is credit card debt.

You would imagine as we evolve in society that we would have a better understanding of how to control our finances or have methods set in place to help us prevent us from filing bankruptcy. Perhaps future statistics will show a decline in bankruptcy, as financial management courses are available. Only time will tell.

Too often people are led to believe that bankruptcy only occurs due to irresponsibility and poor money management. When in fact one of the top rated causes of bankruptcy is due to medical bills. Studies have shown that out of 1.5 million bankruptcies, half of those were due to out of control medical bills. Three quarters of these individuals were covered by health insurance. With outrageous prices for medication, hospital stays and other medical treatments it is easy to acquire a medical bill in the thousands.

With many Americans struggling to make ends meet while earning money to be considered middle class, medical bills can become a nightmare. Even by making constant payments it is near impossible to pay of harassing bill collectors. There have been examples of people who file bankruptcy who are excellent bill payers, have nice homes, drive nice vehicles and work hard to care for their families. For one woman this was her life until she was stricken with cancer. Medical bills took over her life financially and she was forced to choose bankruptcy for debt relief.

Other instances include an infant becoming stricken with the flu. The child was suffering from a high fever, not drinking fluids or eating as well as showing seizure like symptoms. The parents rushed their child to the emergency room for treatment. The child was cared for and regained its health with no complications. Though the child was healthy once again the parents became overwhelmed in medical bill debt. They were forced to file bankruptcy in order to regain financial control.

Life carries unexpected events, especially when it comes to human health. For cases like those listed here, frivolous spending but an illness that was unexpected did not bring on bankruptcy. This can easily explain why medical bills are a number one cause of bankruptcy filing.

There are several ways that you can help yourself get out of debt. One of the things that you can do is use a debt reduction calculator in order to figure

out how to help yourself.

A debt reduction calculator is going to help you figure out what you have to do to get out of debt in several ways. First of all, it is going to allow you put your current debts into the calculation, along with the current monthly payments you are making. Next, you can put your current income into the debt reduction calculator, and this will help you figure out what you can afford to be paying each month.

Next, when you are using the debt reduction calculator, you can figure out a way to put your debts together. The debt reduction calculator will help you see which of your debts can be consolidated into a single loan or other type of debt. This will also help you get out of debt, because you will be able to see a much lower interest rate, and it will give you a chance to help yourself have lower monthly payments.

There are several places that you can go to get a debt reduction calculator. You can find one online that will give you plenty of good information about what your current debts are and the best way that you can get yourself out of debt. Make sure that the one you find has all sorts of options for you to get yourself out of debt.

If you are considering going into bankruptcy, or if you know that it is you only option, you shouldn??™t be afraid to take advantage of the various bankruptcy services that are going to be offered. No matter which step of the process you are currently at, there will be services that are offered just for you.

First of all, by far the best of the bankruptcy services that will be offered to you is going to be counseling. By participating in the bankruptcy counseling sessions that are offered, you will have a better idea of what your debts entail, and what going into bankruptcy actually means. There are other bankruptcy services that are offered for you when you are in these situations. One of them might include representatives that will work with you in order to help you organize your finances.

Organization is one of the biggest keys to getting out of debt, and a failure to be organized is often one of the main reasons that people get into debt in the first place. Therefore, some of the bankruptcy services that you might want to take advantage of should include the organizational services. One of these is going to be the debt reduction calculations that are offered. These will help you figure out what you need to do to get out of debt. In fact, this bankruptcy service might even be something that you can do to avoid having to file for bankruptcy in the first place. This might be a saving grace for you. No matter what, you should take advantage of as many of the bankruptcy services as you can.

Filing for bankruptcy is a scary and challenging thing. There are many laws that you must follow exactly in order to correctly file your bankruptcy, not

to mention understanding each of the separate types of bankruptcy you can file. For someone that does not have any experience with filing legal documents it can be daunting to file these types of paper work. If these bankruptcy papers are not filed correctly, it can end up being a bigger problem then the one that led to the need for a bankruptcy to begin with.

If time is of the essence it maybe better for you to find an attorney that specializes in bankruptcy. A bankruptcy firm could be the easiest place to start; because they are all lawyers that have specialized in bankruptcy law and all work in the same building together. The simplest explanation of this is a law firm where all of the lawyers have specialized in bankruptcy law.

Hiring a good bankruptcy firm means that there are several lawyers within that firm that can assist you with your case. For instance if you are in a situation like foreclosure that is time sensitive but your lawyer does not have a day available to deal with this situation a lawyer in the firm can step up and assist you to prevent a worse situation then the one your already in. If you are with a solo bankruptcy attorney you could end up having a bigger problem. Hiring a bankruptcy firm could be one of the best choices during a bad situation.

When you are dealing with bankruptcy, you know that there are many questions that you would like answered. One of these questions is always going to be what happens with bankruptcy property. Property usually falls into two different categories - the property which is items that you own, and the actual property that is land or buildings. These two types of property have different rules and regulations when it comes to bankruptcy.

The rules regarding bankruptcy property are confusing because property falls into different categories. This means that when you are starting the process of filing for bankruptcy, one of the most important things that you do is take a careful inventory of your property and have your bankruptcy firm help you decide which parts of your property are parts that will be included in the bankruptcy filing, and which are not going to be included.

After you have divided up your property, you should know that when it comes to bankruptcy property, some of it is going to be counted against you, and some of it will be counted for you. The bigger pieces of property can be sold to the bank and these will help you get rid of some of your debt. The smaller pieces can be kept, and this will help you go on with your life as you usually would, even as you are filing for bankruptcy. No matter what types of property you are dealing with, you should know that bankruptcy property is always going to be confusing, so the best thing to do is to make sure that you talk to your bankruptcy advisor.

Bankruptcy refers to a situation where a person can no longer meet their debt obligations.

Whether before or after a person files for bankruptcy

they may be besieged by offers to help clean up their credit report and receive offers of consolidation loans to get them out of debt. Many advertise to offer repair services for credit reports to help people get the credit they deserve. The trouble is many of these advertisements are making promises that the company cannot legally keep. If you are thinking about filing, you need to get bankruptcy help to assist you in this important process.

Information on the credit report that is old or inaccurate can be removed from the report, and contacting the credit bureau with the correct information can have it removed without outside help. Accurate information on the credit report will not be removed regardless of the promises made. Most companies make these promises and after removing a few of the old items on the report, walk away with not offering any real help.

A person who is already in financial trouble may fall for the idea of taking a second mortgage on their home to consolidate their bills and take care of a lot of their outstanding bills. The trouble is, their finances are already in trouble and assuming more debt may simply hasten the foreclosure on their home.

When seeking assistance to consolidate debts through a private agency it is always recommended that the state attorney general??™s public affairs office or the local better business bureau is contacted to determine the reputation of any such company. Too many times companies have taken large amounts of money up front, promising to end creditor harassment and reduce to the total monthly payment, and then do not fulfill all their promises, if any at all.
The right bankruptcy lawyer will not only help you deal with the overwhelming process of filing for bankruptcy, but will additionally help in the financial security your future.

It is true that the bankruptcy process will cost money and when the debtor is already in financial trouble, the extra funds for the process may be hard to find. However, it is also important to remember that in the long run the right bankruptcy firm will more likely become cost-effective to the debtor in trouble as well as providing peace of mind.

Before a person chooses a bankruptcy firm it is best to keep in mind the following tips:

?· Do not look for a bankruptcy firm at the last minute. The quick decision might become a bad choice and the attorney chosen might not get adequate time to prepare fully to proceed with the process.

?· Spend a day in a bankruptcy court to get an idea of how things work and what you should be looking out for in a bankruptcy firm.

?· Do not choose a bankruptcy firm simply because it is the cheapest. It is essential to have an experienced bankruptcy firm.

?· Know how much the entire process will cost from the bankruptcy firm. Find out what is included in the attorney??™s fees and what is not.

?· Check out the law firm before you hire a bankruptcy attorney. This will give you essential clues regarding how the attorney will handle your case.

When a debtor chooses a bankruptcy firm, it is essential that they interview several firms before making a final decision. Obtain only certified and experienced bankruptcy firms.

Regaining your financial health can seem impossible and overwhelming. If you take it one step at a time the process can be not nearly as complex as most

of us choose to believe. Your first step would be to contact your creditors. Explain your situation and ask about payment plans to help lower the amount paid and to pay down your bill until you are caught back up. Your second step is to create budget expenses. Calculate your income, bill amounts, and other miscellaneous expenses. Third step in this process is to reduce your expenses.

If it??™s not a necessity remove it from your budget. Fourth step if needed would be to apply for government assistance. This allows assistance will bill payments, food purchases and unemployment compensation. Fifth step is to consider credit counseling. This may be helpful in not only helping you to regain financial health but it can bring peace of mind knowing how to run your finances in a healthy manner. If you have followed these five steps and your finances are still out of control, speak to a bankruptcy attorney. Fill out an evaluation to see if bankruptcy may be the right choice in regaining financial control. Bankruptcy is not a process you should be ashamed over. It is a legal process to assist those who are suffering with debt to begin a new financial start. You can regain your financial health as long as you put forth the effort to do so.

Having to face a bankruptcy is a difficult thing to do. Unfortunately, it can happen to just about anyone. When your debt rises to an amount that exceeds the wages you make in several years it is time to consider a bankruptcy claim.

This is achieved by filing bankruptcy papers through the court system. Bankruptcy is a legal process. It is very important that you are well informed before making any decision associated with your bankruptcy claim. It is possible to process you bankruptcy on your own. There are easy-to-do kits on the Internet or from various other vendors. The question is: do you think you can handle a situation that affects your future or should you hand it over to a professional bankruptcy attorney.

A bankruptcy attorney will help you decide what bankruptcy you want or need to take. There are two types that you can select from, a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13. The Chapter 7 bankruptcy consists of reaching an agreement with your creditors, selling your assets and dividing the money between the creditors. The Chapter 13 bankruptcy is a slow repayment of your debts without losing your assets. The repayment can take up to five years.

It doesn??™t matter which type of bankruptcy that you chose, you will have to provide all your personal information to your attorney. He will take this information and complete the necessary papers to file your claim in the court system. Once this is done, there will be several meetings between you, your attorney, your creditors and possibly their attorneys. The process will require patience and understanding on your part. Once the process and payments have been completed you will receive a discharge from your debt so that you can have a fresh start.

The type of debt a person has may influence their decision on the type of bankruptcy they file, especially if it means they will be able to maintain some

of their possessions. Looking at the difference between secured and unsecured debt, it can be defined as with secured debt, if the payments are not made the person holding the note and reclaim the merchandise. Take heed and gain respectable debt reduction advice to keep yourself out of heavy debt.

Typically, secured debt involves a home mortgage or a car loan. In many cases of default, the car is repossessed and the house goes through foreclosure. Typically, merchandise taken through a loan default is auctioned and the debtor is liable for any remaining balance plus the cost of recovery and sale. In situations where a debtor is behind in payments and wants to keep their car and their house, a Chapter 13 may offer the relief they need.

The balances will still have to be paid on a plan worked out with the creditor, often the same payment as in the past while past due payments are paid through a plan approved by the bankruptcy court. This allows for breathing room for the debtor to begin putting their financial life back on track.

Unsecured debts, such as most credit cards and store charge cards have no merchandise help as collateral for the loan and if the debtor defaults on the loan, the creditor has nothing they can take back. Their only recourse is through civil court to recover the balance owed. If a person??™s majority debt is unsecured and there is no car or house in the picture, Chapter 13 bankruptcy can eliminate the debt. With debt reduction advice, you can be sure you won??™t need to file bankruptcy. At least, not more than once!

Homeowners who file for bankruptcy often find that the trustee will search for any assets belonging to the debtor and when filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the equity in the home will need to be listed. It is not unusual for the equity to be used to pay off all or some of the outstanding debt in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case but there may be options available in how that is done.

The attorney can petition the court for permission to add debt in a case, where the homeowner can take out a second mortgage, or home equity loan, to pay off the debt through the court. This can be advantageous in a couple of ways to the debtor.

First, during a Chapter 13 plan, the repayment plan is typically for three to five years while a home equity loan can be for a longer period of time. While the debtor is still paying off the debts, it is now in the form of a second mortgage, which can also get them out of bankruptcy much quicker. In some cases, re-mortgaging the home can often realize a lower interest rate, which if spread over the same length of time, will result in lower monthly payments.

When applying for a home equity loan bankruptcy option, it is important to advise the lender of the nature of the loan. They may see it as a way of keeping your financial house in order instead of denying the loan due to the presence of bankruptcy in progress.

Excel provides two functions that help you with accrued interest calculations for securities that pay interest. ACCRINT calculates accrued interest for

a security (such as a bond) that pays periodic interest. ACCRINTM calculates accrued interest for a security (such as a zerocoupon bond) that pays interest upon maturity.

The accrued interest functions use a similar set of arguments, including the issue date, first interest date, settlement date, maturity date, coupon rate, par value, frequency, and basis.

The date arguments are self-explanatory for the most part. The issue date is the date the security is issued. The first interest payment date is the first coupon date. The settlement date is the date you purchased, or settled, the bond. The maturity date is the date the bond matures, or expires.
You may enter the date arguments either as text strings enclosed in quotation marks (for example, ???7/4/99???) or as serial date values (for example, 37000 for April 19, 2001).

The coupon rate and par value arguments let Excel calculate the interest. The coupon rate is the annual interest rate multiplied by the par value to calculate the annual interest. For example, if a bond pays 8% interest annually and the par value is $1,000, Excel would calculate the annual interest by multiplying the 8% by the $1,000 if the coupon is paid annually.

The frequency argument gives the number of coupon payments made each year: you specify 1 to indicate an annual coupon, 2 to indicate a semiannual coupon, and 4 to indicate a quarterly coupon.

The basis argument specifies the number of days in the month and in the year assumed for the date calculations. You specify the basis as 0 for the US (or NASD) version of 30 days in a month and 360 days in a year; as 1 for the actual number of days in the month and year; 2 for the actual number of days in the month but 360 days in a year; 3 for the actual number of days in the month and 365 days in a year; and 4 for the European version of 30 days
in a month and 360 days in a year.

Both the ACCRINT and ACCRINTM functions return an error value in the following situations:

1. If you enter an invalid date argument, Excel returns #VALUE.
2. If the coupon rate or par value argument is less than 0, Excel returns #NUM.
3. If the payment frequency is some number other than 1, 2, or 4, Excel returns #NUM.
4. If the day-count-basis switch isn??™t 1, 2, 3, or 4, Excel returns #NUM.
??? If issue date follows the settlement date, Excel returns #NUM.

The ACCRINT function calculates the accrued interest for a security that pays periodic interest given the issue date, first interest payment date, settlement date, coupon rate, par value, payment frequency, and a day-count-basis switch. It uses the following syntax:

ACCRINT (issue, first interest, settlement, rate, par, frequency, basis)

For example, if you want to calculate the accrued interest on a bond that was issued on February 8, 1999, first paid interest on April 8, 1999, was purchased on May 23, 2000, pays an 8% coupon, shows a $1,000 par value, pays interest four times a year, and uses the US, or NASD, day-count-basis assumption, you use the following formula:

=ACCRINT(”2/8/99″,”4/8/99″,”5/23/00″,0.08,1000,4,0)

The function returns the value 103.33.

The ACCRINTM function calculates the accrued interest for a security that pays interest at maturity given the issue date, the maturity date, coupon rate, par value, and a day-countbasis switch. It uses the following syntax:

ACCRINTM (issue, maturity, rate, par, basis)

For example, if you want to calculate the accrued interest on a bond that was issued on February 8, 1991, matures on May 23, 2010, accrues an 8% coupon, shows a $1,000 par value, accrues interest two times a year, and uses the US, or NASD, day-count-basis assumption, you use the following formula:

=ACCRINTM (”2/8/91″,”5/23/10″,0.08,1000,2)

The function returns the value 1565.33.

Excel provides standard functions, IRR and NPV, for calculating the internal rate of return and net present value of a set of cash flows. While most often

you??™ll want to use these two functions, they may sometimes present a practical problem: Both the IRR and NPV functions assume you??™ve first constructed a worksheet that arranges the cash flows into equal
periods. In other words, to use the IRR or NPV function, you must first construct a worksheet that shows the investment??™s monthly cash flows, or its annual cash flows, or the cash flows from some other consistent time period.

Unlike the IRR and the NPV functions, the XIRR and XNPV functions don??™t require you to first construct a worksheet schedule that arranges the investment cash flows into equal periods. With the XIRR and XNPV functions, you supply the date values that correspond to the cash flow values to the function as arguments.

NOTE: You might want to review the Microsoft Help file’s discussion of the IRR and NPV functions if you have questions about how the XIRR and XNPV tools work.

The somewhat unique feature of both the XIRR and the XNPV function is that if you supply the actual date values or cash flow values inside the formula as arguments, they expect you to supply the values argument and the dates argument as arrays. (An array is just a set of numbers.)
For example, suppose that you want to calculate the internal rate of return and net present value for an investment that produces the following cash flows on the following dates:

1/1/2000 -1000
12/31/2000 -1000
4/15/2001 2000
12/31/2001 1000

If you include the actual array in the argument, you can designate the array by enclosing the values and dates arguments inside braces. To show the preceding date values in an array, for example, you would type the following:

{”1/1/2000″,”12/31/2000″,”4/15/2001″,”12/31/2001″}

To show the preceding cash flow values as an array, you would type the following:

{-1000,-1000,2000,1000}

If you enter the date values and cash flow values in worksheet ranges, you don??™t need to worry about identifying the date values and cash flow values as arrays. For example, if you enter the preceding set of date values in the worksheet range A1:A4 and the preceding set of cash flow values in the worksheet range B1:B4, you can use these worksheet ranges as the function
arguments.

The XIRR and XNPV functions, predictably, require you to use date values that are valid.
You must also use the same number of date values as you use cash flow values. If you supply an invalid argument or set of arguments, Excel returns the #NUM error value.

NOTE: Excel considers the first date value to be the starting date of the investment. Accordingly, the first date value in your array or worksheet range must be the earliest. Subsequent date values don’t have to be in chronological order, however.

The XIRR function calculates the internal rate of return for an investment given its cash flows, the dates of those cash flows, and, optionally, an initial guess as to the internal rate of return. The function uses the following syntax:

XIRR (values, dates, guess)

For example, suppose that you want to calculate the internal rate of return for an investment that produces the following cash flows on the following dates:

1/1/2000 -1000
12/31/2000 -1000
4/15/2001 2000
12/31/2001 1000

To calculate the internal rate of return for this set of cash flows using the XIRR function and using a starting guess of 20%, you would use the following formula:

=XIRR({-1000,-1000,2000,1000},{”1/1/2000″,”12/31/2000″,”4/15/2001″,”12/
31/2001″},.2)

The formula returns the value .470251, which is equivalent to 47.0251% annually. If the date values were stored in the worksheet range A1:A4 and the cash flow values were stored in the worksheet range B1:B4, you could instead use the following formula:

=XIRR (B1:B4,A1:A4,.2)

The XNPV function calculates the net present value for an investment given its cash flows, the dates of those cash flows, and the annual discount rate. The function uses the following syntax:

XNPV (rate, values, dates)

For example, suppose that you want to calculate the net present value for an investment that produces the following cash flows on the following dates:

1/1/2000 -1000
12/31/2000 -1000
4/15/2001 2000
12/31/2001 1000

If the date values were stored in the worksheet range A1:A4, the cash flow values were stored in the worksheet range B1:B4, and you wanted to use a discount rate of 15%, you would use the following formula:

=XNPV (.15,B1:B4,A1:A4)

The formula returns the value 557.17.

Curiously, the XNPV function doesn??™t accept date values supplied as text strings. For example, although the following formula is equivalent to the preceding one, it returns the #VALUE error value:

=XNPV (.15,{-1000,-1000,2000,1000},{”1/1/2000″,”12/31/2000″,”4/15/
2001″,”12/31/2001″})

You could, however, rewrite this formula using equivalent serial date values (the serial date 36526 for 1/1/2000, the serial date value 36891 for 12/31/2000, and so on), and then Excel returns the correct net present value:

=XNPV (0.15,{-1000,-1000,2000,1000},{36526,36891,36996,37256})

Credit Action have put together some distressing statistics:

Britain’s personal debt is growing by ??1 million every 4 minutes, and today

as many as 300 people will be declared bankrupt or insolvent. House repossessions are expected to increase from 17,000 in 2006 to 42,7000 in 2009.

The effects of debt on your personal life can be catastrophic. Whether the debt is personal or business related, the stress and fear engendered can precipitate family break ups, mental illness and even suicide.

The Samaritans say that the biggest cause of stress is money (51%), and the Legal Services Research Centre have found that 89% of debt clients reported worrying about their debts most or all of the time. 48% said the impact on their health was `great’ and 43% that their health was effected `to some extent’.

What is most worrying, is that 60% of debt clients had received medication, treatment or counseling, and 45% said that being in debt had had a negative effect on their relationships with their partners.

The problem may be particularly acute for start up businesses, who may also have the pressure of young families, rising mortgage costs, and not enough time to dig themselves out of the mire.

What can be done to help people who are suffering in this way?

The first thing is to get free, confidential and impartial advice on the best options available. Many people are unaware of the choices open to them when they are struggling with debt. It may be that bankruptcy, or an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) is the answer, but it is worth exploring the alternatives.

Even following a bankruptcy, getting professional help with liaising with creditors can bring about reduced interest on debts - in one case, a business recovery firm saved a client ??43,000 thanks to them agreeing an alternative basis under case law with creditors.

Dealing with debt is not just a practical issue, as the statistics above show, but an emotional one too. This is why seeking out an empathetic as well as skilled team of advisers is important. The people who can provide advice and help are not there to judge - their job is to help find solutions. Why not think about using, for example, a firm who have an all female staff? Whoever you use, they should provide at the initial meeting, independent, free, confidential and impartial advice, without obligation to use their services.