“Financial Lives” shows millions of Britons struggling

FCA has published a snapshot of the latest edition of its Financial Lives survey, carried out between February and June 2002. It found:

• 7.8m people are finding keeping up with bills a heavy burden – around 2.5m more than in 2020 – and when the question also included “somewhat of a burden” the figure increased to 31.9m;
• 1 in 4 UK adults are, or could quickly find themselves in, financial difficulty;
• 4.2m people have missed bills or loan repayments in at least 3 of the 6 months preceding the survey; and
• 12% of people in the North East and 10% in the North West are struggling, as opposed to 5% in the South East and South West.

Sheldon Mills stressed that those in difficulty should contact their provider in the first instance, and reiterated FCA’s message to firms to work with their customers to solve payment problems.