Friend-to-friend loans become popular
Published On 14 August 2007
People in the UK are borrowing money from their friends to cover official debt, pay for holidays and finance cars, new research suggests.Figures gathered by Abbey Loans show that 4.4 million UK consumers borrow more than £50 a year from friends - collectively racking up over £500 million of unofficial borrowing.
The typical value of a 'friend-to-friend' loan is £116.
Over a third (36 per cent) said they borrowed money from friends to tide them over until payday, while a quarter (26 per cent) used these sorts of loans to pay off personal debt. People also said that the money was used to fund holidays, car purchases and home improvements.
However, 28 per cent of people from the UK said that they have fallen out with a friend over borrowing - with 29 per cent revealing that the dispute had arisen over less than £100.
"As millions of Brits find that borrowing from or lending money to a friend resulted in the loss of a friendship we've seen that people can fall out over the smallest amounts of money," commented Paul Morrish, head of Abbey Loans.
"Those that need money for items such as cars, holidays, home improvements or even cosmetic surgery would be better off asking a bank to provide the funds, rather than risking a relationship meltdown."
Figures show that, excluding mortgages, the average UK consumer owes over £8,800.
