A new study from online personal finance broker Solution Loans has revealed that 60% of people in the UK wouldn’t be able to replace their boiler if it broke down this winter. The results also show that 10% of families have no savings at all to assist with a household emergency.
Perhaps unsurprisingly the young were the least likely to have the savings required to meet an unforeseen household expense. Whilst 37% of those aged 55 and over had over £5,000 in savings less than 8% of those aged 18-24 had that level of savings. 82% of those in the 18-24 age group have £1,000 or less though its less likely that people in this age group will be responsible for covering repair costs to houses or the contents of them.
The research calculated that households would need to save £138 each month to cover the cost of replacing essential items once they reach the end of their lifespan. Items considered in the research included white goods such as fridge freezers, washer-dryers and dishwashers as well as things like the cost of having a new roof which has to be replaced on average every 30 years, the cost of having a house re-wired and the cost of having new water pipes fitted.
The people of Sheffield are the worse off, with 78% of people having less than £1000 and 21.7% with nothing at all. In the Steel City, only 4% of people have more than £5000 in savings.
Things are little better in Manchester and Bristol. In the northern city, 68% have less than £1000 and 13.6% have nothing at all, compared to 68% and 12% in Bristol.
Amanda Gillam from Solution Loans said: “Whilst saving isn’t always the most exciting thing a person can do with their money, its vital that if people can save that they put something aside for when times are hard. It’s important to consider the consequences of being caught out if something goes wrong at home and a household item needs to be replaced or repaired.
“Whilst borrowing money can help meet these short-term needs, in some cases unplanned borrowing can lead to people getting into financial difficulties over time. By simply putting away a small of money each month people can avoid these potential problems.”
For the full results of the study visit: https://www.solution-loans.co.uk/blog/most-people-dont-have-an-emergency-fund/ .
