September 17, 2008
UK savings hit by the credit crunch
Research that was conducted on behalf of American Express Insurance Services suggests that nearly 50% of the UK’s adult population will alter their savings habits in a bid to beat the current credit crunch. The survey showed that British consumers will not hesitate to reduce their savings in order to deal with everyday expenditure on household bills and items. It was also revealed that nearly 25% of respondents will consider defaulting on current debts in order to ensure that they can deal with a poor financial situation.
Around 20% of people said that they would also have to cut contributions to Child Trust Funds and nearly 15% would discontinue payments into their pension funds. Over 10% of those questioned stated that they would not make any further payments to their credit card bills ,whilst around 12% would stop their monthly car repayments.
The ongoing squeeze on household budgets would also see around 30% of people discontinue payment protection and health insurance policies.