Britain a nation of financial 'sinners'

Most Britons admit to having bent or broken the rules at some time when dealing with money and finance, according to a new survey.

12:19 18 March 2005

Most Britons admit to having bent or broken the rules at some time when dealing with money and finance, according to a new survey.

The research, conducted by investment firm Scottish Widows, found that 86 per cent of those polled admitted some form of financial misdemeanour.

Scottish Widows said that the financial confessions fell into two distinct groups, with most admitting to using mischievous tactics to save or make money, while knowingly turning a blind eye to their own personal finances.

The top five financial confessions were failing to correct a shop assistant when undercharged (one in two adults), keeping money they had found, rather than finding the rightful owner (one in three), not paying back money to family and friends (one in six), returning goods that have been damaged or worn (one in 10) and evading public transport fares (one in five).

The survey of 2,100 adults also found that confessions about personal finances included failing to save on a regular basis (one in two), failing to set aside money for emergencies (one in three), going overdrawn before each payday (one in five) and throwing out bank statements without even opening them (one in eight).

Anne Young, senior technical manager at Scottish Widows, said: "We are clearly a nation that needs saving from itself.

"It seems that we are all quite happy to turn a blind eye to a wide range of financial sins and bad habits, whether it is the mischievous tactics we employ to save a pound or two, or the fact we are failing to tackle our own personal finances."