Britons keep schtum about money worries

Nearly 70% of UK consumers who find themselves facing sudden financial difficulty choose not to tell their bank or building society.

According to research commissioned by Callcredit Information Group, 69% of those who have experienced severe money worries in the past two years have kept their lender in the dark, while 42% have not admitted the nature or extent of their troubles when problems have transpired.

Since 2008, 65% of British adults have experienced financial difficulty of some description, rising to 74% of people with children.

Of those, 24% saw their income reduce with 6% taking a cut in pay, 9% a reduction in working hours and 9% losing their job.

Only 8% chose to contact their bank or building society when the problem came to light, with a further 8% seeking help from Citizens Advice or another debt charity.

“These figures are extremely worrying,” said Graham Lund, managing director of Callcredit.

“What’s particularly concerning is the number of people who fail to make their bank aware of sudden changes in their financial situation - and those that do get in touch aren’t always completely honest.

“It’s therefore extremely important that financial service providers use information and tools available to proactively monitor any changes in their consumers’ financial situation and have sight of the bigger picture.”