Recession hits older borrowers hardest

Borrowers over 45 have been hit by rising unemployment and falling house prices, and declaring themselves bankrupt at the highest rate of any other age group. Accountants Wilkins Kennedy found that 38 per cent of individuals who were declared bankrupt last year were over 45, and this figure had doubled in the past five years. The research found that as house prices fell people no longer have the equity in their homes to rely on in difficult times.