Do you have a creaking joint account? asks Abbey

Over 5 million joint account holders (20 per cent) use their (joint) account to make purchases for themselves without telling their partner, according to research from Abbey Current Accounts. Yet, this is still less than the 24 per cent of people who suspect their partner of doing so.

While men and women were equally to blame for blowing joint funds behind their partner’s back, men were more suspicious of their partner’s behaviour. 26 per cent believed their partner to have spent joint account money inappropriately compared with 23 per cent of women.

Given the levels of dishonesty and suspicion amongst joint account holders, it is hardly surprising that one-in-five (25 per cent) said they’d fallen out with their partner over how their joint current account is being used.

Most people are happy to use their joint accounts to pay for household bills such as gas and mortgage payments (93 per cent). Supermarket shopping (83 per cent), home and kitchen appliances (75 per cent) and holidays (72 per cent) were also acceptable areas for spending joint account cash.

However, most couples weren’t happy with their shared money being spent on gadgets, with just one in three (33 per cent) believing that joint funds should be used to buy items such as games consoles, MP3 players or mobile phones. More men (34 per cent) than women (32 per cent) believed that their joint account should be used in this way. Interestingly, men were also more willing to spend money on ‘flowers for the home’ using joint funds than women (37 per cent compared with 32 per cent) - showing that women still believe that flowers should come out of their partner’s pocket.

In response to its research, Abbey is urging more couples to establish proper ground rules for using their joint current accounts. While the study showed that two thirds of couples (65%) were sensible enough to establish spending rules at the start of their joint account relationship, almost one in ten couples (nine per cent) have never established rules that they are comfortable with. A further 10 per cent said they’d taken between two and six months to do so.

Steve Shore, Head of Banking at Abbey, comments: “Money has always been a common source of dispute between couples, and joint accounts are proving to be no exception. It’s important that couples are open and honest with each other from the start and discuss exactly what the joint account rules are, to avoid arguments at a later date.”

Abbey’s research shows that couples in the South East are the most likely to disagree about what their current accounts should be used for (35 per cent), compared to the more harmonious Scots, where only 12 per cent said they had fallen out over the issue.