Loan-a-friend Brits hand out £510 million

Britain is officially a nation of big lenders, as research from Abbey Loans finds that 4.4 million Brits (nine per cent) lend or borrow a sum of money over £50 from friends each year - totalling a whopping £510 million. The average friend-to-friend loan stands at £116.

But Brits might well be advised to leave the whole business of lending money to the banks after research from Abbey finds that 3.5 million Brits (28 per cent) have fallen out with a friend over an unpaid debt. And it doesn’t take much money to cause friction, 29 per cent of these fell out with a friend over less than £100.

The biggest reason to take out a friend-to-friend loan is to plug the gap until pay day – cited by 36 per cent of Brits – followed by paying off personal debts (26 per cent). Funding holidays, car purchases and home improvements were all cited by seven percent. Six per cent of loans fund a business idea, one percent buys presents for partners and a further one percent covers a medical expense.

Paul Morrish, Head of Abbey Loans, commented: “As millions of Brits find that borrowing from or lending money to a friend resulted in the loss of a friendship we’ve seen that people can fall out over the smallest amounts of money. “

Paul Morrish, Head of Abbey Loans continued: “Those that need money for items such as cars, holidays, home improvements or even cosmetic surgery would be better off asking a bank to provide the funds, rather than risking a relationship meltdown. And with Abbey offering competitive rates, starting at 7.9% APR, come and talk to us as we’re doing all we can to keep the costs of borrowing low.”