British finances ‘worse off’ this year

An increasing number of Britons may soon require debt management help as new research has found many people feel less well-off financially than they did in 2009.

A study carried out by Gocompare.com discovered 41 per cent of consumers in the UK believe their monetary affairs to be in worse condition than 12 months earlier.

But despite 25 per cent of the survey’s respondents admitting they need to make cutbacks to sustain a decent standard of living, the website found 12.8 million individuals (27 per cent) have not switched provider for any of the most common financial products in the last year.

Moreover, in excess of three million customers (6.3 per cent) said they have never checked or compared their financial arrangements after the initial set-up stage.

The survey showed just 17 per cent of those questioned have considered changing their energy deal in the last 12 months, while only 12.8 per cent have compared their savings account.

Switching broadband deals has been thought about by 11.6 per cent of UK residents, 10.1 per cent have looked at their bank account situation and 7.2 per cent have compared their mortgage deal.

Meanwhile, as little as 4.6 per cent of consumers have looked at the possibility of changing their land telephone deal in the same period.

John Miles, business development director at Gocompare.com, advised: “With the economic downturn biting hard, many consumers are now struggling to make ends meet so it’s important that everyone does all they can to save money.”

The recent UK Online Retail Report from PayPal revealed 88 per cent of shoppers often search for special offers or promotions before carrying out a transaction.

By Joe Shervin