Brits hide debt from loved ones
Almost one quarter (24%) of adults in the UK are hiding some form of debt (be that overdrafts, credit cards, store cards loans etc) from their partner, friends or family according to research by AXA as part of its My Budget Day campaign. With an average hidden debt of £4096.32, this means that there is potentially £50.1 billion pounds worth of ‘hidden debt' in the UK.
The state of their finances is the third most likely thing that the UK population lie about, coming shortly behind the number of previous sexual partners and how much they spent on an item of shopping.
40% of people will lie to their friends, family or partners about the state of their finances.
Those aged 19-30 are most likely to lie about the state of their finances (44%) and have the most hidden debt (26%), whilst the highest levels of hidden debt are amongst those aged 36-40 (£5883.80) and 46-50 (£5880.47).
Women are most likely to lie about shoes and shopping (24%) whilst men are most likely to lie about how much they have had to drink (24%) and, perhaps more worryingly, over one in five (22%) will lie about their health conditions.
Almost a third of people (31%) hide their debt out of embarrassment, almost a quarter (23%) fear how their loved ones will react and 21% have hidden debt because it just got too out of control. Perhaps most worrying is the 14% of people that simply didn't realise how much debt they had.
The Scots are the most likely to lie about their finances with almost half (46% admitting to this. Those in the East Midlands (33%) are the least likely to lie.
Wales is home to the largest levels of hidden debt with average amounts of almost £5000 compared to just £1744 in Northern Ireland. But the Welsh are also the most embarrassed by their debt levels (39%).
Clothes (35%), Holidays (34%), Eating Out (25%) and Food & Drink (24% are the things that have contributed the most to the UK's hidden debt.
Slightly more men than women hide their debt although on average women hide debt worth over £500 more than men (with average hidden debts of £4273 and £3755 respectively).
Over half (28% of women) are scared how their partners or family may react (as are 33% of those in Yorkshire and 31% of those in the North East).
26% of men simply feel it's none of their business, as do 41% of South East residents.
Both men and women (22% and 21% respectively) and those in the North East and Northern Ireland (27% and 26%) lie about their previous sexual partners.
Alison Green, AXA's My Budget Day spokesperson says; "There are over 12 million people in the UK today hiding their debt and financial concerns from their partners and family. Be that through embarrassment, fear or in some cases ignorance. The important thing is for people to take control of their finances and get the help and the support they need. The first step of which is taking stock of their debt and sharing this with the people in their lives.
"AXA's My Budget Day encourages anyone who is hiding any financial concerns to take their head out of the sand and start taking an active role in their financial future. For anyone hiding debt they can anonymously air their financial confessions at axa.co.uk/mybudgetday/confessions which would be a big step towards facing up to the problem and ultimately tackling the stress that keeping things bottled up can cause."