05
February
2006
|
00:00
Europe/Amsterdam

For richer for poorer

As couples look forward to the most romantic day of the year research from online credit monitoring service MyCallcredit reveals Britons are a forgiving bunch when it comes to romance and finance.

The vast majority of couples in the UK tell their partners the truth about their finances and less than one in ten would consider ending a relationship if they discovered significant debts they had not been told about - nearly eight out of ten would forgive their partner and help them sort it out.

However, there are some regional differences, people who live in Yorkshire, are more likely than average to share every aspect of their finances, the most likely to tell the truth about money and the most likely to stand by their partner in time of financial difficulty.

Scots tell their partners the least about their finances, are less likely than average to tell the truth about money and the most likely to ditch a partner if they got into financial difficulties.

While people in the South are the least likely to tell the truth about their finances with 16.3 per cent admitting they've told their partner a porky about money.

MyCallcredit director Alison Nicholson says:

"People can easily get carried away when they're in a relationship and not worry about their partner's financial habits. Thankfully, our research proves that in the vast majority of cases partners can trust each other when it comes to money.

The problem comes with the small minority who aren't entirely open and honest and this can have a huge impact on their partners. If you have any joint financial commitments with a person you're financially associated with their behaviour and it will have an impact on your creditworthiness.

Even if you subsequently split up their finances could affect you for up to six years so we'd recommend people take care when they're entering into joint financial arrangements."

Key Findings
  • 66.4 per cent of people tell their partner everything about their finances.
  • Only 14 per cent of people keep their partners totally in the dark.
  • The overwhelming majority of people (89 per cent) are totally honest about their finances.
  • Britons are a forgiving bunch, 78.6 per cent of people would forgive their partner if they racked up significant debts and help them to sort it out.
  • Less than one in ten (9.8 per cent) would consider ending the relationship.
  • People in the South are the least likely to tell their partner the truth about their finances, 83.7 per cent against a national average of 89 per cent.
  • Yorkshire folk are the most likely to tell the truth about their finances, 95.1 per cent against a national average of 89 per cent.
  • Welsh people are the most forgiving with 87.1 per cent saying they would forgive a partner significant debts against an average of 78.6 per cent.
  • Scots are the least forgiving with only 58.6 per cent saying they'd let their partner off the hook.
  • Scots are also the most likely to consider ending a relationship because of debt (16.1 per cent) with Southerners second (13.4 per cent)
  • East Anglians are the most open about their finances, 75.3 per cent say their partner knows everything about their finances compared to 66.4 per cent nationally.
  • Scots are the most secretive with only 62.1 per cent saying their partner knows everything.
Editors Notes
  1. The research was carried out for MyCallcredit by NEMS market research among 1050 adults between 20 and 25 January 06.