Insurance bills prioritised by 49%

by Richard Kilner

Story link: Insurance bills prioritised by 49%

Credit reference agency Callcredit has commissioned research which reveals that almost half of Britons consider insurance bills to be one of the top four to be paid on time.

Unsurprisingly utility bills (83%) came top, followed by council tax (77%) and rent/mortgage (74%).

Forty-nine percent pay insurance bills with urgency, far ahead of mobile phone bills (11%), internet charges (19%) and credit card debt (38%).

The finding is significant given that there are an estimated two million motorists who drive without car insurance, and around one in three have no home insurance policy.

There was also some awareness of the impact on credit rating, with 24% stating they paid specific bills to mitigate the negative effect on their own credit rating.

Owen Roberts, head of www.callcreditcheck.com, responded to the research’s results by expressing his encouragement that people, despite the need for belt-tightening, saw the importance of paying bills on time and of maintaining insurance coverage.

Roberts did, however, express concern over the small number who would prioritise a personal loan or credit card bill, as these can damage credit ratings and make securing future credit more difficult.