The number of people filing for bankruptcy in the U.S. and U.K. has been falling steadily for the past few years, but charities and analysts are concerned that homeowners could get in trouble if the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England raise interest rates.

The latest figures from the U.K. government, released in July, showed the rate of bankruptcies (measured as the number of insolvencies per 10,000 adults) has fallen every year from a peak of 30.9 in 2009 to 21.8 in 2014.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., the number of people filing for bankruptcy declined by 12 percent to 879,736 for the year ending June 30, according to records released by the U.S. bankruptcy courts.  Read more…