Alliance & Leicester stresses need for savings

The importance of having a healthy level of savings to rely on in the event of loss of income has been stressed by Alliance & Leicester.

According to research by the company, 51 per cent of workers would not be able to cope financially if they found themselves unable to work for any reason.

This equates to more than 14 million people who would struggle with ever-rising council tax costs and utility bills.

Of the people who said they would not be able to manage without a regular wage, 46 per cent said they would need up to £1,000 a month alongside their current savings to get by and 23 per cent thought they would require as much as £1,500 a month.

Almost a fifth of the people who said they would be able to manage said they would resort to spending their savings and around one in ten said they would rely on their partner.

Lindsey Henson, manager for protection at Alliance & Leicester, said: "It’s easy when you’re busy with your working life to take the security of a monthly income for granted.

"However, if you become ill, suffer an accident or are made redundant then you may be unable to earn an income. It is vitally important to consider what measures you can put in place to ensure you can continue to meet your financial commitments and maintain a reasonable standard of living."

Of all the people surveyed by Alliance & Leicester, 21 per cent said they did not have any savings or income protection insurance to fall back on.