Troubled Brits keep stiff upper lip

The British are over four times more likely to first turn to their family, friends, acquaintances or nobody to discuss financial or debt worries than they are to seek professional advice, a survey reveals.

The study from Community Legal Service Direct   shows that the British stiff upper lip is alive and well, with only 18% with cash worries saying they would first turn to professionals for advice.
The main reasons revealed in the research for not turning to professionals for advice on financial or debt matters was that it costs too much (42%), that they are strangers (41%), while 40% of respondents felt they couldn’t be trusted.

Most people (69%) would rather deal with a financial problem themselves than turn to others. When they do, over half of those with financial worries (54%) ask family, friends or acquaintances for advice first. One in five (18%) have turned to their hairdresser, pub landlord, taxi driver or religious leader to discuss their money problems.

Of those polled, only 47% of those who sought financial advice—including from acquaintances—felt that they were given some good tips. Almost one in five (19%) said their source of advice on financial or debt worries was unhelpful.

With Britain’s personal debt increasing by £1m every four minutes and 330 people being made insolvent in the UK each day, John Sirodcar, head of Community Legal Service Direct, says it’s worrying that people, especially the most vulnerable, are not getting the financial and legal advice they need.
“While it’s natural for people to look to those they know to give them advice, well intentioned as it may be, this is clearly not always going to be the best advice,” he says.