Britons are amassing more than £76 million (1) a year in unpaid household bills.
New research from Bacs, the company behind Direct Debit, reveals more than half a million households in Britain fear opening their bills to face up to how much they owe, choosing instead to turn a blind eye to the state of their domestic finances. Of these households, an average of nearly £152 is owing in bill payments at any one time.
Delays in bill paying are common with close to one in five (19%) households who pay their bills by cash or cheque failing to pay when it first arrives, relying instead on reminder notices to prompt for payment.
One fifth (20%) admit to having unopened bills lying around their home. Meanwhile, 10 per cent blame their partner for late payment - each mistakenly assuming the other has paid - and one half simply don't get around to it.
Michael Chambers, Managing Director of Bacs commented that, "Close to one quarter (24%) of household bill payers who continue to use traditional methods of payments have five or more domestic bills to sort on a monthly basis so it's not surprising that people forget to arrange payment on time when using conventional methods.
If more consumers used Direct Debit to pay their bills they could be benefiting from the many discounts offered by utility providers when paying in this way."
For more information about Bacs and our services visit Bacs key facts.
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Notes
(1) From the survey conducted, 2.08% of all respondents interviewed stated that their household had avoided or delayed opening a bill for fear of the cost within the last 12 months. There are 24,346,000 households in Britain. 2.08% of British households = 506,397. The survey also discovered that the average household that avoids or delays opening a bill for fear of the cost typically owes £151.56 in such bills at any one time. Therefore to gain a representative GB total: £151.56 x 506,397 = £76.75 million. Household figures sourced from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (http://www.odpm.gov.uk/)
The research
Fieldwork conducted between 3-5 September 2004 by BRMB International. The survey provides 2,018 completed telephone interviews amongst adults aged 18+ investigating the British population's attitude and management towards household bills. The data is weighted to be representative of the British population.
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