7 billion in cash kept in UK homes
Excluding money in their wallets, the average amount people have at home is almost £300. This means that across the country, the UK's 24.9 million households have over £7 billion in cash.The FSCS recently conducted research to coincide with its launch of a consumer awareness raising programme. Although the FSCS was in the spotlight following problems at Northern Rock and the failure of five banks including Bradford & Bingley and Icesave, research suggests there is still a lack of awareness of the protection available to consumers and a high degree of confusion about who provides that protection.
The survey reveals that 13% of people believe in keeping their cash at home. Perhaps surprisingly it is young people, those aged between 16 and 34, who are most likely to have this view (18% average).
While 37% of those questioned say they have less than £20 at home, 4% said they had over £1,000 lying around the house. Surpisingly this included 1% who admitted to stashing in excess of £10,000 at home.