Two in five adults claim to have suffered economic or financial abuse – survey

Six in 10 (61%) people who have suffered financial or economic abuse say their situation has worsened due to the cost-of-living crisis, according to a survey.

Two-fifths (40%) of people have suffered from financial or economic abuse at some point in their adulthood, the research, commissioned by insurer Aviva, suggests.

Abuse can often leave victims with limited or no access to money when perpetrators take control of their finances, including their spending, bank accounts, borrowing, or perhaps restrict their access to transport and technology, affecting their ability to work.

Of those who said they had suffered financial or economic abuse, one in eight (12%) said the perpetrator took control of what they bought.

Just under one in 10 (9%) said their debit or credit card was used to pay for items without their knowledge and 7% had contracts taken out in their name for services such as mobile phones and credit cards for someone else to make use of.

A small proportion (2.5%) said they were made to change the beneficiary in their will.

In two-fifths (39%) of cases, the main perpetrator of the abuse was a spouse or partner, the survey found.

In nearly a quarter (23%) of cases, the offender was said to be a parent, sibling, or another family member.

One in seven people (14%) affected claimed they were deceived by their employer or a colleague, according to the survey of 3,000 people across the UK carried out by Censuswide in November 2022.

More than three-quarters (76%) of people affected said they had spoken to someone about the incidents, such as friends and family, their bank, the police or another professional body.

Alistair McQueen, head of savings and retirement at Aviva, said: “We are extremely concerned to hear these findings, but we completely understand the importance of making sure we protect our customers and employees from this type of abuse, especially those who are vulnerable. We communicate regularly about domestic abuse, including economic and financial abuse, to raise awareness and reduce stigma.”

Nicola Sharp-Jeffs, CEO and founder of Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA), said abuse may last for several years.

She said: “It’s more important than ever that banking and insurance providers are vigilant to this type of abuse and are aware of how perpetrators can coerce and exploit victims.

“Training is vital across all teams, from those in customer-facing roles to those designing and implementing new products, to recognise and support victims at every stage and shut down opportunities for further exploitation.

“It’s also clear that the increased cost of living is taking its toll, with almost two-thirds saying the crisis has worsened their situation.

“We’ve already seen firms taking proactive and innovative steps to support victim-survivors of economic abuse during these challenging times and we hope to see more of this in the new year.”