There is current concern from the Bank of England that British families are getting deeper into debt, however, it has been said that lenders are putting themselves at risk because people are now more willing to make themselves bankrupt.

Despite people already having significant amounts of debt, credit card companies are still prepared to lend these people money. This is a combination of a creditor not knowing the full picture of a persons financial commitments and employees of credit card companies being under pressure to sell credit cards and insurances policies to earn bonuses.

People will receive random telephone calls from companies who will try to sell the benefits of their cards and use the selling point of lower rates plus the option to transfer the balance from their current credit card at a lower rate.

Many people who receive these calls may already be in some kind of debt. There possibly will be some who are currently looking for solutions to their debt problems, and the temptation of obtaining a new card thereby having more spending power could prove hard to resist.

The Bank of England has every right to be concerned about the financial state of this country, but possibly the lending system needs to change to make it more difficult to obtain credit.

Lending companies blame the debtor, and the debtor blames the lending companies but who will stand up and make a difference when it comes to the huge family debts the UK are currently experiencing?

We have already been made aware that borrowing in the UK has crashed through the 1 Trillion pound barrier, but surely this should provoke concern rather than just being a headline in a newspaper.

The Government are concerned with raising financial awareness, however, what restrictions do the lending companies have? We know that a new Bill is currently in motion, which was first mentioned in the Queens Speech back in November 2004 and is set to come into effect in mid-2006. This bill will give creditors more rights over debtors rather than placing any restrictions on how creditors lend money.

Yet another case of suicide due to debt is circling the Internet. 43-year-old Mark McDonald