One million more households in danger of debt.

Our latest MoneyMood Survey shows a million households are worse off now than they were just 1 year ago.

The research shows a marked drop in “Expense Cover”, the number of “financially stable” households who say they have some money left after paying bills each month. This indicates that, nationwide, the number of households scrimping to pay bills or sinking into debt has risen by just over a million (1,050,000) compared to 2010.

The last three years have clearly taken a toll on the number of “stable” households who can claim expense cover. In September 2007 six out of 10 households across the UK said they had expense cover “some money left over after paying bills and debts”. By the end of September that had fallen to less than half of households (45 per cent) a drop of around 3 million in 4 years.

Commenting on these findings Mark Gregory, Legal & General Executive Director, Savings said: “Right across the country, no matter where they live, people are saying that they’re struggling to cope with household bills. Our latest figures indicate over half of UK households, around 11.5 million homes, are “scrimping” - budgeting on a fine balance between managing to pay bills and sinking into debt.”

Mark added: “The continuing financial turmoil has created millions of households, for whom just paying bills has become a real struggle. In our last survey (August) over half of households questioned said they were contemplating using some savings to meet mortgage payments if rates go up or considering cashing in some savings to pay rising household bills and high fuel costs.”