Cuna Mutual announces Financial Fragility Survey results

By January 22, 2015Blog

Yesterday, we launched the results of our third annual Financial Fragility Survey in a media roundtable event at Portcullis House, overlooking the Houses of Parliament. The event was chaired by Heather Wheeler MP and attended by Andy Love MP and Joanne Elson from the Money Advice Trust. We were also delighted that Robin Walker, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Credit Unions, was able to join the discussion and provide some great insights on the current parliamentary stance on Credit Unions. The report compared the previous three years of the survey and found that, post-recession, consumers are feeling more financially vulnerable than in 2012.

Despite the fact that people across the UK have faced difficult financial situations in the years since the recession, the amount of people who have no protection on their loans and mortgages has in fact decreased. We found that the percentage of people with payment protection has decreased from 17 per cent to 8 per cent, a worrying statistic considering the amount of borrowers in the UK.

We also revealed that women now feel more financially vulnerable than men with 45 per cent of women stating they would be unable to meet a £2000 expense within 30 days, with only 31 per cent of men feeling similarly exposed.

Andy Love MP stated that it is concerning that due to the improvements in the economy, less people are safeguarding their loans. He said that it was important for people to use the breathing space afforded by the fall in energy and food prices to save money so that they are able to meet any unexpected expenses.