According to last year’s figures, 63,000 UK citizens chose bankruptcy to escape their debt woes in 2006.

In short, bankruptcy is a relatively quick process to write off debts, usually taking a year, but can have long term hindering effects on one’s bank, job and personal affairs.

People who file bankruptcy are usually those with low income jobs or people that don’t have a job with security that they think they will maintain long enough to commit to their monthly debt payments.

The majority of filers are in their 30s, however due to illness, divorce and other factors there is an increasing number of people over 50 petitioning for bankruptcy.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no set minimum amount of debt that people who file need to have.

Bankruptcy is not a free service. People who decide bankruptcy is the right path for them will still need to pay about £450 for the entire cost; £310 to the administrators (including the official receiver) of the bankruptcy and £140 for court costs.

Once filed, the debtor has zero control over their assets as they can be sold to pay back creditors. On the plus side, people who have filed do not have to deal with creditors because the official receiver will take care of it for them.

There are some leniencies with special cases, such as if having a car is vital to their job they will most likely get to keep it, also, if the filer has dependents under their name they might have extra time to sell their property to find other accommodations.

After filing people may have trouble finding a job, especially in the finance, legal, police or armed forces industry. Also, if a director of a company they will be asked to step down.

The debts are usually discharged after a year, meaning their debts will be erased and they can start from scratch. However, the bankruptcy will still be on their records for 6 years after filing, which could make it difficult for them to get credit until the record is cleared.

Bankruptcy can seem like a very quick and easy process with debts being discharged in a year, especially to those with no assets to loose. But to those with assets or a high level job it could make life difficult.