Couples miss out on savings by living financially separate lives
Over half (57%) of UK households are missing out on savings of over £350 per year by failing to consolidate their finances with family discounted products, new research from Aviva reveals.
Co-habiting couples are the fastest growing family type in the UK yet as we live together longer and get married and have children later in life, fiscally independent, yet committed couples, are missing out on savings by failing to merge their finances.
Aviva spoke to over 2,000 UK adults about their living circumstances and finances and found that couples living together without children are the least likely to take out multi-person policies, with only 27% of couples taking advantage of available discounts. Families who live together, but financially apart are missing out on savings of up to 30% on multi-person policies and services such as multi-car insurance, family railcards and mobile phone contracts.
Big life events such as getting married and having children appear to be prime triggers for families to review their finances and take stock of savings available, with people who have tied the knot most likely to be using the cost-saving policies (married without children: 44%, married with children: 46%).
Dad of 2, Darren Whitlock, 31, from Hertfordshire and wife of 7 years, Emma Whitlock, are a married couple who are reaping the financial rewards after merging their family finances. From insurance policies to mobile phone contracts, Darren and Emma save money just by consolidating their finances with family discounted products. Darren said: "It made sense to consolidate our finances together and take up discounts available for families. The savings we make on an annual basis make a real difference, meaning that we can have more flexibility in what we spend on our children and on our home. Any extra we manage to save goes into our joint savings account as well."
According to the research, the biggest savings to be had by taking out a joint/multi-person policy are for car and van insurance - where savings are on average £84 per year - and family railcards, with which families can save up to £99 per year. Mobile phone contracts and sports membership are the areas where people were least likely to claim group discounts - only 22% of people surveyed had joint mobile phone contacts and just 29% had joint gym contracts.
Commenting on the findings, Heather Smith, director of marketing at Aviva said: "At a time when many families are feeling the squeeze, reviewing finances across the household and consolidating spending to make the most of multi-person discounts could be a simple and effective way to save money.
"In most cases changing your policies or applying for joint contracts is much easier than you think and savings can be substantial. With Aviva MultiCar there is one set of documents, you have the same renewal date and the majority of our Multicar customers achieve savings of over 20%3. As our circumstances change throughout our lives, everyone should review their financial arrangements regularly to make sure they're getting the most value for money out of everyday products and services."
People can save up to a third on their car insurance policy with Aviva MultiCar insurance when adding a second car or van to their policy. For further details visit aviva.co.uk/multicar-insurance/
For more information on insurance direct from Aviva, go to aviva.co.uk
Follow us on twitter: twitter.com/avivauk and find us on Facebook: facebook.com/AvivaUK