Disabled People and Financial Inclusion - Scope's Blog · PDF fileDisabled People and...

Disabled People and

Financial Wellbeing

A report for Scope by Ipsos MORI

July 2013

Internal / Client Use Only

Legal notice

© 2013 Ipsos MORI – all rights reserved. The contents of this report constitute the sole and exclusive property of Ipsos MORI. Ipsos MORI retains all right, title and interest, including without limitation copyright, in or to any Ipsos MORI trademarks, technologies, methodologies, products, analyses, software and know-how included or arising out of this report or used in connection with the preparation of this report. No license under any copyright is hereby granted or implied. The contents of this report are of a commercially sensitive and confidential nature and intended solely for the review and consideration of the person or entity to which it is addressed. No other use is permitted and the addressee undertakes not to disclose all or part of this report to any third party (including but not limited, where applicable, pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act 2000) without the prior written consent of the Company Secretary of Ipsos MORI.

Contents

Executive Summary ....................................................................... 2

Current financial situation ........................................................................... 2

Utility bills and keeping warm ..................................................................... 3

Looking forward .......................................................................................... 3

Benefits and payments ............................................................................... 3

Credit and debt ........................................................................................... 3

Banking ...................................................................................................... 4

Financial safety net .................................................................................... 4

Independence capability and advice .......................................................... 5

Introduction .................................................................................... 7

Background ................................................................................................ 7

Methodology............................................................................................... 7

Quantitative survey research methodology ................................................ 7

Secondary Data Analysis ........................................................................... 8

Making ends meet – current financial situation ......................... 13

Summary .................................................................................................. 13

Reasons for assessment of financial situation ......................................... 16

Affordability of utility bills .......................................................................... 24

Coping with payments for utility bills ........................................................ 24

Looking ahead – future financial prospects .............................. 28

Summary .................................................................................................. 28

Perceptions of financial prospects – the pessimists and optimists ........... 29

Direct payment or personal budget .......................................................... 32

Credit and debt ............................................................................. 35

Access to credit ........................................................................................ 36

Levels of debt ........................................................................................... 40

Over-indebtedness ................................................................................... 43

Being in credit arrears .............................................................................. 43

Burden of debt .......................................................................................... 44

Number of credit commitments ................................................................ 45

Banking ......................................................................................... 50

Summary .................................................................................................. 50

Accessibility - physical access to banks ................................................... 51

Access to financial products ..................................................................... 52

Access to online banking ......................................................................... 53

Payment mechanisms .............................................................................. 59

Financial safety net ...................................................................... 63

Ability to save ........................................................................................... 64

Attitudes towards savings ........................................................................ 65

Pensions .................................................................................................. 67

Insurance take up ..................................................................................... 69

Perceptions of insurance costs ................................................................ 71

Independence, capability and advice ......................................... 74

Summary .................................................................................................. 74

Confidence managing money................................................................... 75

Financial capability ................................................................................... 76

Financial independence – who takes responsibility for financial matters? 79

Support worker to help manage money ................................................... 80

Seeking financial advice - professional advice ......................................... 80

How is the advice perceived?................................................................... 82

Where do people get their advice? ........................................................... 82

Informal financial advice ........................................................................... 84

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Summary

Financial Inclusion- Internal / Client Use Only

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This work was carried out in accordance with the requirements of the international quality standard for Market Research,

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Executive Summary

Set against a context of cuts in public expenditure as well as an extensive programme of welfare reform, this executive summary draws together the key findings from an extensive research study conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of Scope, exploring the issues of financial inclusion for disabled people.

The primary research comprised a representative survey of 1,009 disabled adults aged 16+ which was carried out between 27 July and 10 August 2012 across Great Britain using a combination of the Ipsos Online Panel and three waves of Ipsos’ weekly face-to-face omnibus survey, Capibus.

The survey was supported by secondary data analysis, which was conducted on the following large national surveys, with selected variables analysed by disabled and non-disabled respondents: Life Opportunities Survey; Understanding Society; Family Resources Survey; Wealth and Assets Survey; ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey; and Citizenship Survey.

The research identifies a number of key issues, which are discussed in more detail below:

There are notable levels of pessimism amongst disabled people over their future

finances, related to fears of rising prices and bills as well as falling (real) incomes;

This is reflected in a low ability to save and prepare for the future, particularly for

retirement – the majority anticipate relying on the state pension and pension credits;

Disabled people appear to exert greater caution over their finances than non-disabled

people, with a lower tendency to buy on credit. Those that have borrowed on credit

are more likely than non-disabled people to have problems with repayments, again

reflecting that disabled people tend to live on tight budgets and therefore have to

closely manage their borrowing and spending;

Disabled people are less likely to seek formal financial advice than non-disabled

people;

There is a low level of awareness of Department for Work and Pension’s (DWP)

planned changes to the benefits system, due to be implemented from 2013; and,

In general disabled people may not be fully aware of the options that are available to

them, but rather take a low-risk, coping approach to dealing with their tight finances.

Current financial situation

A significant minority of disabled people (21%) feel that their current financial situation is poor1 and disabled people are more likely to say they have greater difficulty making ends meet than non-disabled people (10% compared to 5%)2. Disabled people are also less likely to draw on banking systems when they run out of money – 18% use an authorised / arranged overdraft when they run out of money, compared to 31% of non-disabled people3.

1 Source: Ipsos MORI / Scope

2 Source: Life Opportunities Survey

3 Source: Wealth and Assets survey


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There is a strong correlation between an individual’s assessment of their personal financial situation and their confidence in managing their finances; those who think their financial situation is poor tend to have lower confidence.

Utility bills and keeping warm

Government data shows that 12% of disabled people are unable to keep their home adequately warm4 and 24% of households including a disabled person are living in fuel poverty (compared to 16% of households with no disabled person5).

While the Ipsos MORI survey shows that the majority of disabled people do not feel their disability or health condition affects the amount they pay for utilities, a notable 18% of disabled people feel they are paying more as a result of their impairment. Accordingly, a quarter of disabled people (26%) have restricted their use of utilities and a fifth (20%) have cut back on other expenses in the past year to help pay their utility bills.

Looking forward

There are high levels of pessimism over future finances amongst disabled people. When thinking about their financial situation in two years’ time, disabled people are much more likely to feel it will be worse (36%) than better (13%) (nearly half – 46% - feel their situation will remain unchanged). This pessimism is most frequently attributed to rising prices and bills (39%), as well as falling (real) incomes (15%)6.

Disabled people who feel their financial situation is currently poor are more likely than average to think it will be worse in 2 years time (56%).

Benefits and payments

While DWP plans to introduce Universal Credit, a new single benefit which will be paid monthly, in 2013, current awareness of the proposed changes is low. Reflecting DWP’s own research, which indicates limited understanding of the system7, nearly half (45%) disabled people know nothing at all about Universal Credit8. There also appears to be some confusion amongst disabled people on what Direct Payments are, with 30% saying they receive a Direct Payment while just two percent have an Individual Budget9.

Credit and debt

Disabled people are less likely to draw on credit than non-disabled people, due to fears about the expense associated with doing so. Disabled people are less likely than non-disabled people to have a credit card (43% compared to 59%). It follows, therefore, that disabled people are also more likely to strongly disagree with the statement, “I tend to buy things on credit and pay it off later,” (68% compared to 47% of non-disabled people)10.

4 Source: The Life Opportunities Survey

5 A household is defined as fuel poor if it needs to spend more than 10% of household income on fuel

to maintain a satisfactory heating regime. 6 Source: Ipsos MORI

7 http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2011-2012/rrep778.pdf

8 Source: Ipsos MORI

9 National Indicators used by NHS Information Centre for 2009/10 show that 23% of adults with a

learning disability received direct payments and/or a personal budget compared to 20% of adults with a physical disability and 5% of adults with a mental health condition. 10

Source: Wealth and Assets Survey

http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2011-2012/rrep778.pdf


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Indeed, the most commonly preferred payment method for everyday purchases is the debit card (46%) followed by cash (32%).

One in eight (13%) disabled people have been turned down for credit in the last five years, with most being turned down for a credit card (66%) or a loan from a bank, building society or commercial lender (30%). As a result of being turned down, a quarter (26%) have had to borrow money from friends or family, and 13% have missed payments on a bill.

The most frequently mentioned reasons for not applying for credit are concerns about being turned down (10%), a feeling that credit is too expensive (7%) and a worry about keeping up with repayments (6%). Only three per cent of people had not applied for credit because they thought their disability or health condition would disqualify them11.

However, while disabled people are less likely to feel that they debt they do have is a burden (9% say it is a heavy burden compared to 16% of non-disabled people12), disabled people do seem to be more overindebted on some measures. For instance, disabled people are disproportionately likely to turn to loansharks – 1 in 10 compared with just three per cent of non-disabled people. Disabled people are also slightly less likely to keep up with debt repayments; six per cent are two or more consecutive repayments behind, compared with four per cent of non-disabled people13 and households containing a disabled person have higher levels of unsecured debt as a ratio of income.14

Half of disabled people have used a credit card or loan to pay for everyday items in the previous 12 months, such as clothing or food. While the debit card is the preferred payment method, disabled people are using credit cards when needed.

Banking

A notable proportion of disabled people (12%) experience difficulties physically accessing their bank or building society. Those that identify physical difficulties experience issues with transport (37%), the cost of getting to the branch (22%), anxiety or a lack of confidence (18%) and difficulty getting into buildings (17%)15.

Potential access to internet banking is lower for disabled people than non-disabled people, as fewer have the internet at home (64% versus 84%)16. Two-thirds of disabled people (67%) say they use internet banking and just over one in ten people (12%) use mobile banking17. The majority have not experienced issues with these18.

Financial safety net

The majority of disabled people (85%) say they have not saved money during the last 12 months because they cannot afford to, a significantly higher number than non-disabled people (79%)19. Disabled people find it easier to make ad-hoc ‘rainy day’ savings rather than

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Source: Ipsos MORI 12

Source: Wealth and Assets Survey 13


Source: ISER, Over-indebtedness in Great Britain: an analysis using the Wealth and Assets Survey 15


Source: ONS Opinions Survey 17

Please note that these figures should be interpreted with caution due to the nature of the survey. As the majority of survey responses were collated online via our Online Panel, online survey respondents may differ from the general disabled population as a whole. 18




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regular planned monthly savings (28% compared with 17%)20, which is reflected in concerns about funding their retirement - 60% say they worry a lot about having enough income to get by, compared to less than half of non-disabled people (44%). If they do not feel able to save regularly, this could explain part of their worries around funding retirement. Over a third of disabled people feel their income in retirement will be less than enough to meet their needs (36%)21.

Disabled people are much more likely to be solely reliant on the state pension and pension credit for their income during retirement. Only a quarter (24%) expect to have funding from an occupational or personal pension during retirement, compared to half (51%) of non-disabled people22.

Independence capability and advice

The majority of disabled people (84%) feel confident about managing their personal finances and three-quarters (77%) say they are mainly responsible for their financial matters (such as paying bills and managing day-to-day money23).

Disabled people are less likely to always run out of money at the end of the month than non-disabled people (12% of disabled people say they always run out of money, versus 14% of non-disabled people). When they do run out of money, they tend to cut back on spending (48%) or borrow from family or friends (39%).

The Wealth and Assets Survey shows that one in three disabled people (32%) have received professional advice about their personal finances in the five years prior to the survey. The Ipsos MORI survey shows that those in work and those describing themselves in a good financial situation were most likely to have sought professional advice. The most common reasons for receiving professional advice are to manage savings (34%), for general advice about money and finances (27%) or to plan for retirement (20%). One in seven disabled people (14%) sought advice about coping with debt problems24.

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Source: Understanding Society 22



Source: Ipsos MORI


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Introduction


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Introduction

Background

The purpose of this research, conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of Scope, is to better

understand the issues around financial inclusion for disabled people. It comes at a crucial

time, given the cuts in public expenditure and budget tightening as well as a programme of

welfare reform, which will have a huge impact on disabled people. For instance, with the

introduction of Universal Credit, income-based ESA customers will receive one monthly

payment and will also be required to manage their claims online – something that the

evidence suggests may be difficult for many. The Government is also replacing the Disability

Living Allowance (DLA) by a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for adults of working

age from April 2013, and some disabled people currently in receipt of DLA are expected to

lose out from this change.

Disabled people face significant financial challenges; they are more likely to be unemployed,

be low paid and twice as likely to be living in persistent poverty. Figures from 2010 also

show that 33 % of disabled people experienced difficulties related to their impairment or

disability in accessing goods or services25. Furthermore, disabled people are less likely to

have savings or bank accounts than non-disabled people and this gap has widened from 4%

in 2004/05 to 4.6% in 2006/0726. In its report Double Disadvantage, the Citizens Advice

Bureau highlighted that around one in five of the people seeking advice about debt

problems from Citizens Advice Bureau in England and Wales are disabled or have a

long-term health problem27. These factors, coupled with proposed changes in social care

and welfare reform, are likely to make disabled people more vulnerable and less able to

respond to financial shocks and stresses.

As a result, the aim of this research was to combine analysis of existing datasets with new

surveying to help to understand the financial position of disabled people, their access to

financial products, and their financial prospects for the future. This report presents findings

from the survey of disabled people conducted by Ipsos MORI, as well as relevant data from

existing datasets. A separate summary report of the secondary data analysis is also

available.

Methodology

Quantitative survey research methodology

A representative survey of 1,009 disabled adults aged 16+ in Great Britain was carried out. Interviewing was conducted between 27 July and 10 August 2012.

Interviews were conducted online using the Ipsos Panel and face-to-face over three waves of the Ipsos MORI weekly Capibus. The Capibus provided a representative quota sample of adults aged 16+ across 154 sampling points. From this sample, participants were screened

25

ONS Opinions Survey, October 2011 26

Family Resources Survey, December 2008 27

http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/double_disadvantage

http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/double_disadvantage


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for disability. The intention behind the face-to-face element was to allow a wider pool of disabled people to take part, and therefore provide a more representative sample for the survey. The face-to-face interviews also asked questions about internet use, allowing a sub-sample of disabled people who do not use the internet to be created for analysis, recognising that not all disabled people can and do use the internet. For the purposes of this survey, a non-internet user was defined as anyone using the internet once a month or less. Interviews were conducted in-home, using CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing).

For the online survey, a representative sample was drawn from the existing Ipsos panel of disabled panellists with participants screened for disability. Data from the Family Resources Survey (FRS) was used to estimate demographics for the disabled population and hard quotas set on age, gender, and working status. In addition, balancing quotas were set on region. Following fieldwork, the combined data for the online and face-to-face fieldwork was weighted for age, sex, working status and region to ensure a representative sample.

Secondary Data Analysis

In addition to the survey, secondary data analysis was conducted on the following large national surveys:

Wealth and Assets Survey

Life Opportunities Survey

Family Resources Survey

Understanding Society

ONS Opinions Survey

Selected variables were chosen from these surveys to analyse by disabled and non-disabled respondents. The tables below outline the technical details of the surveys and the definitions of disability used by each survey. Technical details for each survey are given in the following tables. For each survey, the date of the last survey and its frequency is given in order to assist with interpreting the results and identifying when the data will be superceded by more up to date data.

Life Opportunities Survey

Sample size 31,161 interviews with adults over 16 from 19,951 households (out of a total 33,921 eligible households). (Great Britain)

Fieldwork dates

June 2009 – March 2010

Frequency Annual

Methodology Face-to-face interviews. Households sampled using the small users Postcode Address File.

Done by ONS/ Office for Disability Issues

Definition of disability

They use a social model definition of disability and therefore consider a participant as disabled if they have an impairment and face barriers that restrict their participation in different areas of life. The survey also included a series of questions which align to the Disability Discrimination Act definition (‘he or she has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on her or his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’) so the data can be compared to other surveys (such as the FRS). For the purposes of the secondary data analysis, the


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second definition was used.

Understanding Society

Sample size 40,000 households from approximately 2,640 postcode sectors in England, Scotland and Wales and around 2,400 addresses randomly selected from the Land and Property Services Agency in Northern Ireland.

Fieldwork dates

2008-2001, Waves 1-4

Frequency Annual

Methodology The sample was drawn using the small users Postcode Address File (PAF)

Done by Institute for Social and Economic Research, NatCen, NISRA


People with a disability are defined as those respondents who report a limiting long standing illness, impairment or disability who have significant difficulties with day-to-day activities. Everyone in this group would meet the definition of disability in the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).

Family Resources Survey

Sample size 25,200 interviews completed. (Great Britain and Northern Ireland).

Fieldwork dates

April 2009 – March 2010

Frequency Annual

Methodology CAPI face-to-face, British sample taken from the small users Postcode Address File.

Done by NatCen/ ONS




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Wealth and Assets Survey

Sample size Achieved sample of 30,595 households , 53,299 individuals (Great Britain). A sub-sample of respondents were asked questions about physical wealth (e.g. household contents) so the base here is 17,316 households.

Fieldwork dates

July 2006 - June 2008

Frequency Ad hoc

Methodology Face-to-face interview. At the first stage, a stratified sample of PSUs was drawn, followed by a second-stage sample of 26 addresses from each sampled PSU. For each year of the first wave of the survey, 1,200 PSUs were drawn, giving a set sample of 31,200 addresses per year.

Done by ONS



ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey – Internet Access Module

Sample size 1,130 (obtained) - January 2009 1,070 (obtained) - February 2009 1,092 (obtained) - March 2009

Fieldwork dates

January, February, March and April, 2009

Frequency Ad hoc

Methodology Face-to-face interview. Repeated cross-sectional study, done monthly. Multi-stage stratified random sample

Done by ONS Omnibus Surveys



Citizenship Survey

Sample size 9,305 Core sample in England and Wales

Fieldwork dates

April 2009 – March 2010

Frequency Survey has been remodelled since data used in this report.

Methodology Face-to-face interview. Cross-sectional study, done quarterly. Multi-stage stratified random sample

Done by Ipsos MORI/TNS-BMRB




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Making ends meet – current

financial situation


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Making ends meet – current financial

situation

Summary

In this chapter we investigate the overall financial situation of disabled people. We look first at their own perception of their current financial situation and reasons behind this. We then look at whether people are able to make ends meet, whether they run out of money and what happens when money does run out. The second part of this chapter investigates issues around paying for essential utilities – gas, electricity and water. We first look at perceptions around the price of utilities, before exploring issues around coping with payments for utility bills. Key points are:

A fifth (21%) of disabled people describe their financial situation as poor, and over a third say it is neither good nor bad (37%) with only two-fifths (42%) saying their financial situation is good. There is a strong correlation between assessment of personal financial situation and people’s confidence in managing finances. People who describe their financial situation as poor tend to be those with low confidence levels (and younger), on lower income levels, and those with learning, social and behavioural, memory or mental health impairments.

Those who say their current financial situation is neither good nor bad tend to give reasons for this which could be construed as negative or not overtly positive reasons, such as “just about managing” (20%) and “managing ok/can pay the bills/average” (21%).

One in ten (10%) disabled people say they have great difficulty making ends meet, compared to 5% of non-disabled people.

While disabled people are slightly less likely to say they always run out of money before the end of the week/month (12% compared to 14% of non-disabled people), they are more likely to sometimes run out of money (29% versus 25%).

When disabled people do run out of money nearly half (48%) cut back on spending, while 39% borrow from friends or family. Only 18% use an authorised/arranged overdraft, compared to 31% of non-disabled people.

Three in ten (31%) disabled people say they cannot afford a week’s annual holiday away from home.

Over a fifth of disabled people (22%) had cut back on utility bills in the last 12 months, according to the Citizenship Survey.

The Life Opportunities Survey shows that more than one in ten (12%) disabled people cannot afford to keep their home adequately warm. Government data shows that 24% of households including a disabled person live in fuel poverty28, compared to

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A household is defined as fuel poor if it needs to spend more than 10% of household income on fuel to maintain a satisfactory heating regime.


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16% of households with no disabled person and that over time, the proportion of households with a disabled person has increased29.

The survey data shows that seven in ten (72%) disabled people feel that their impairment or health condition does not affect the amount they pay for utilities, although 18% feel they are paying more as a result of their impairment. This is particularly the case for people with memory impairments (37%) and those with learning difficulties or social or behavioural problems (32%).

Just under four in ten people (38%) feel it is easy to pay their utility bills. This compares with 23% who find it difficult. People with learning difficulties, social or behavioural problems (44%), mental health problems (41%), memory impairments (41%) or dexterity problems (39%) find it most difficult to afford utility bills.

Four in ten people (41%) have taken actions in the past year to help pay their utility bills, most commonly restricting their use of utilities (26%), or cutting back on other expenses (20%). Disabled people with memory impairments, learning difficulties or social or behavioural problems are most likely to have taken such actions.

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DECC fuel poverty data/DCLG English Housing Survey (2009). See: http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/fuelpov_stats/fuelpov_stats.aspx

http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/fuelpov_stats/fuelpov_stats.aspx


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Current financial situation

The survey asked people to give an assessment of their current financial situation. Figure 1shows that just over two-fifths (42%) of disabled people say that their financial situation is good, while one fifth (21%) say that their financial situation is bad, and the remaining 37% say it is neither good nor bad.

Fig 1. Overall, would you say your financial situation at the moment is . . .?

Respondents to the face-to-face element of the survey were more likely than those taking part in the online survey to say that their financial situation is good (52% versus 39%), which is likely to reflect the older age profile of those in the face-to-face survey. This is also borne out in the finding that disabled people over pension age are much more likely than younger people to describe their financial situation as being good (57% compared with 28% for people aged 15-34 years and 22% for 35-44 years).

This difference is further evidenced by the fact that internet users (who tend to be younger) are more likely than non-internet users to report that their financial situation is bad (22 % compared with 12%).

In terms of household circumstance, non-working disabled people are more likely than those who are working to report that their financial situation as being good (44%, compared with 36%) and those without children in the household are more likely than those with children to report their financial situation as being good (43% compared with 30%). Again, this may reflect the age profile of households without children.

People’s assessment of their financial situation is highly correlated with household income. Half of those (49%) with a household income of less than £6,500 said that their financial situation was bad, while over half (59%) of those with a household income of £25,000 or more said that their financial situation was good. Those who say their financial situation is

9%

33%

37%

14%

7%

Bad = 21%

Good = 42%

Very good

Fairly good

Fairly bad

Very bad

Neither good nor bad

Fig 2. Overall, would you say your financial situation at the moment is . . .?

Base: All disabled respondents (1009) Source: Ipsos MORI


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neither good nor bad are also more likely to be on lower incomes, with 42% of those earning up to £9,499 saying this, compared to 24% of those earning over £40,000.

These findings suggest that people’s financial situation is closely linked to age and life stage (and ultimately household income) - whereby younger, working-aged disabled people and those with children in the household tend to be less positive about their financial situation.

Disabled people living in London are most likely to report their financial situation as bad (35%), while those in the South West (51%) are most likely to say their situation is good. Again, this could be linked to age (and therefore income) as London has a younger age profile than other regions.

People who feel confident in managing their own finances are more likely to say their financial situation is either good (47% versus 10%) or neither good nor bad (39% versus 30%).

As observed with the findings for confidence with managing personal finances, people with learning, social and behavioural (24%), memory (27%) or mental health (23%) impairments are less likely than those with other types of impairments to say their current financial situation is good.

Reasons for assessment of financial situation

Respondents were asked to give reasons behind their assessments of the current financial situation. Among those who said their financial situation was good, the most common response was that people were managing okay with their finances and could pay the bills (35%), see Figure 2. This is followed by having savings or investments (25%), having sufficient for their needs and living comfortably, and not being in debt (18%).

Fig 2. Why do you say your financial situation is very/fairly good?

Fig 3. Why do you say your financial situation is very/fairly good?

Source: Ipsos MORI

35

25

18

15

9

6

6

4

2

1

1

1

Managing/ok with finances/can pay the bills/average

Have savings/investments

Live comfortable/have sufficient for my needs/no …

Not in debt

Have a good pension/pension increases with inflation

No reason/because it is/that's what I think

Have/partner has a job/working more hours/good wage

Just about managing/coping/live each day as it …

Have some money but would like more/not enough for …

Poor return on savings/low interest rates

I'm a pensioner/about to retire/retired/pensions are …

Not enough/lack of money/low income/hard to pay bills

Base: All disabled respondents who say their financial situation is very or fairly good (421)


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Among those who say their current financial situation is bad, the most common reason is not having enough money or being on a low income, which makes it hard to pay the bills (50%). Other commonly cited reasons for being in a bad financial situation are higher cost of living/inflation/higher bills (16%), being in debt (15%), being out of (full-time) work or having hours reduced or job insecurity (14%).

Fig 3. Why do you say your financial situation is very/fairly bad?

These findings suggest that people assess their financial situation on the ability to meet basic and immediate every day needs rather than wider financial indicators. The findings also show that while four % of people give poor health as a reason for their bad financial situation, disability per se is not mentioned as a reason.

50

16

15

14

10

6

6

5

4

1

1

1

1

1

1


Cost of living/inflation/high prices/higher bills

In debt

Unemployed, no full time work/less hours/job insecurity

Hard to live on benefits/no increase in benefits/benefit …

Just about managing/coping/live each day as it …

Having to use savings/cannot save

I'm a pensioner/about to retire/retired/pensions are …

Poor health

Not in debt

Have some money but would like more/not enough for …

Economic situation/recession



Have a good pension/pension increases with inflation

Fig 4. Why do you say your financial situation is very/fairly bad?

Source: Ipsos MORI Base: All disabled respondents who say their financial situation is fairly/very bad (214)


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Further evidence that people assess their financial situation on the ability to meet everyday needs can be seen in the answers to why people consider their financial situation to be neither good nor bad, as shown in Figure 4. A fifth of people (21%) say they are managing ok and can pay the bills, and a fifth (20%) say they are just about managing, coping or leaving each day as it comes. Both these responses are about managing day-to-day rather than larger financial issues. What is also apparent from the responses given to this question is that the most commonly given responses could nearly all be classed as negative reasons, rather than positive. The picture given is one of people who are just about coping, but seem to give answers that are similar to those who said their financial situation was bad.

Fig 4. Why do you say your financial situation is neither good nor bad?

Source: Ipsos MORI

Making ends meet

Further indication of why disabled people may see their financial situation as poor can be found in data from the Life Opportunities Survey, as seen in Figure 5. When asked how easy it is for their household to make ends meet, disabled people are more likely than non-disabled people to say they do it with great difficulty or some difficulty. Ten per cent of disabled people say they have great difficulty, compared to 5% of non-disabled people, with 31% saying they have some difficulty, compared to 25% of non-disabled people.

21

20

12

8

8

6

6

5

5

4

4

3

3

3

2

2

2

2

1


Just about managing/coping/live each day as it…

Have some money but would like more/not enough for…

Not in debt



I'm a pensioner/about to retire/retired/pensions are…



Live comfortably/have sufficient for my needs/no…

Hard to live on benefits/no increase in benefits/benefit…


Nothing has changed

Unemployed, no full time work/less hours/job insecurity


Have/partner has a job/working more hours/good wage

In debt

Poor health


Why do you say your financial situation is neither good nor bad?

Source: Ipsos MORI Base: All disabled respondents who say their financial situation is neither goo nor bad (377)


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Fig 5. Thinking of your household's total monthly or weekly income, is your household able to make ends meet, that is pay your usual expenses…?

Whether people run out of money

Disabled people are slightly less likely than those who are non-disabled to say they run out of money before the end of the week or month all the time, with 12% saying this compared to 14% of non-disabled people. Nearly three in ten (29%) say they run out of money sometimes, compared to 25% of non-disabled people.

5

25

49

22

10

31

44

15

With great difficulty

With some difficulty

Fairly easily

Very easily

Non-disabled Disabled

Thinking of your household's total monthly or weekly income, is your

household able to make ends meet, that is pay your usual expenses…?

Source Life Opportunities Survey

Base: All respondents. No limiting/long term illness/disability (25,375)

Has limiting long-term illness/disability (9,795) Source: Life Opportunities Survey


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Fig 6. And in the past 12 months, how often have you run out of money before the end of the week or month, would you say it was?

When disabled people do run out of money, they are more likely to cut back on spending or do without than non-disabled people, nearly half (48%) do this, compared to 41% of non-disabled people. They are also more likely to borrow from family and friends, with 39% opting for this over 36% of non-disabled people. They are less likely to use an arranged or authorised overdraft than non-disabled people, less than one in five (18%) do this, compared to three in ten (31%) of non-disabled people.

Fig 7. What do you usually do when you run out of money?

14

16

25

19

23

2

12

15

29

20

22

2

Always

Most of the time

Sometimes

Hardly ever

Never

Too hard to say/ varies too much to say [Spontaneous]


Fig 36. And in the past 12 months, how often have you run out of money before the end of the week or month, would you say it

was...?


Has limiting long-term illness/disability (6,370)Source: Wealth and Assets Survey

41

36

31

15

14

6

4

2

1

1

48

39

18

11

14

2

3

2

2

2

Cut back spending/do without

Borrow from family/friends

Use authorised/arranged overdraft

Use credit or store card(s)

Draw money out of savings or …

Do overtime/earn extra money

Use unauthorised overdraft

Depends on amount needed/varies …

Take out commercial loan

Use a pawn brokers or cash …



Base: All those who run out of money. No limiting/long term illness/disability (8,492)



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Paying the bills

The Life Opportunities Survey asks a series of questions to determine the financial situation of households. Looking at this data (see Figure 8) we can see that disabled people are more likely than non-disabled people to say they cannot afford to do all the things mentioned. Three in ten (31%) disabled people say they cannot afford a week’s annual holiday, compared to one in five (21%) non-disabled people. While over a third (37%) say they could not afford an unexpected, but necessary, expense of £500, compared to a quarter of non-disabled people (26%). This illustrates the more challenging financial position disabled people find themselves in.

Fig 8. Looking at this card, can I just check whether your household could afford the following? Household could not afford the following:

Further insight into the ability of disabled people to make ends meet is available from the Citizenship Survey, illustrated in Figure 9. This question examines whether the individual, or someone in their household has experienced a number of financial problems in the last 12 months. It shows that disabled people are more likely to have cut back on utility bills (22% versus 18% of non-disabled people). They are as likely as non-disabled people to say they have cut back on socialising or entertainment (24% versus 26%) or other non-essential spending (24% compared to 28% of non-disabled people). Given they are cutting back on essential spending (utility bills) it may be that they do not have other non-essential spending to cut back on, if they are only just making ends meet anyway.

Disabled people are also slightly more likely to say they fallen into arrears with bills or credit cards, with one in ten (10%) saying this, and 8% of non-disabled people.

21

5

26

7

2

31

9

37

12

4

To pay for a week's annual holiday away from home

To eat meat, chicken or fish (or vegetarian equivalent) every second day

Pay an unexpected, but necessary, expense of £500

To keep your home adequately warm

Afford none of these [Spontaneous]



Has limiting long-term illness/disability (9,807)Source: Life Opportunities Survey

Fig 7. Looking at this card, can I just check whether your household could afford the

following?


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Fig 9. In the last 12 months, have any of these things happened to you [or someone else in your household?]

Utilities - perceptions around prices

We have seen that disabled people are more likely than non-disabled people to have cut back on utility bills. Utility prices and the ability to pay bills are an important issue facing many people in society on low incomes, including disabled people. The survey therefore asked a number of questions about utility bills.

The survey initially asked people whether they felt they paid more or less for their utility bills (gas/ electricity/water) than someone who did not have their impairment or health condition. Around seven in ten people (72%) feel that their impairment or health condition makes no

Source: Citizenship Survey

Giving to charityIn the last 12 months, have any of these things happened to you

[or someone in your household]?

27

8

3

26

28

4

1

6

18

18

9

42

24

10

4

24

24

5

1

4

18

22

10

44

Experienced a drop in income

Fallen into arrears with bills or credit cards

Fallen into arrears with rent or mortgage payments

Cut back on socialising or entertainment

Cut back on any other non-essential spending

Fallen into greater debt

Lost a home

Lost a job

Cut back on food bills

Cut back on utility bills (such as reducing electricity or phone …

Cut back on donations to charity

None of these


Base: All respondents. No limiting long-term illness/disability

(7,188), has limiting long-term illness/disability (2,087)


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difference to the amount they pay for utility bills. There are, however, around one in five disabled people (18%) who feel they pay more for their utility bills because of their impairment of health condition. This compares with 3% who feel they pay less.

Fig 10. Do you feel you pay more or less for your utility bills (gas/electricity/water) than someone who does not have your disability or health condition?

Younger people are more likely than older people to feel that they are paying more for their utility bills, with a quarter (25%) of 15-34 year olds and a similar proportion (26%) of 35-44 year olds saying they pay more compared with almost four in five (78%) of those over retirement age saying their disability of health condition made no difference.

Disabled people living in households with children were twice as likely as those without children in the household to feel that they were paying a lot more (16% compared with 8%).

Over a quarter (27%) of people who do not feel confident at managing their personal finances or who are in a poor financial situation (28%), believe they are paying more for utility bills than those are confident or in a good financial situation (16% and 14% respectively).

There are some significant differences in perceptions by type of impairment, with a quarter (24%) of those with memory impairments, and one in five (20%) with learning difficulties or social or behavioural problems feeling they are paying a lot more for their utility bills than non-disabled people. Compared with the average, disabled people with mental health problems (15%), dexterity problems (15%) and stamina, breathing or fatigue problems (12%) also feel they are paying more.

Source: Ipsos MORI

Fig 42. Do you feel you pay more or less for your utility bills (gas/electricity/water) than

someone who does not have your disability or health condition?

Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

9%

9%

72%

2%1%

7%

I pay a lot more for my utility bills

I pay a little more for my utility bills

Don’t know

My disability/health condition makes no

difference

I pay a little less for my utility bills

I pay a lot less for my utility bills


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© 2013 Ipsos MORI.

Affordability of utility bills

Figure 11 shows that 37% of disabled people feel it is easy to afford their utility bill payments compared with just under a quarter (23%) who find it difficult.

Fig 11. How easy or difficult is it for you to afford your utility bill payments?

People aged over 65 years are significantly more likely to find it easy to afford utility bills than younger people (48% say it is easy compared with around three in ten for all other age groups). This may in part be explained by the fact that people of pension age may be entitled to help towards paying utility bills, such as Winter Fuel Payments.

As we have observed throughout this report, disabled people’s financial situations and their financial confidence affects their financial outcomes. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of people in a good financial situation find it easy to afford utility bills compared with just six% of those who describe their financial situation as poor. Similarly people who are confident about managing their personal finances are much more likely than those who are not confident to find it easy to afford their utility bills (42% compared with 11%).

Again, reinforcing the findings of this survey elsewhere, people with more severe disabilities are more likely than average to find it difficult to afford utility bills. In particular, people with learning difficulties, social or behavioural problems (44%), mental health problems (41%), and memory impairments (41%) have greatest difficulty in affording utility bills.

Coping with payments for utility bills

While more people feel it is easy to afford their utility bills than not, disabled people are taking action to afford their bills. Four in ten disabled people (41%) say they have taken specific actions to help pay their utility bills (Figure 11). Around a quarter of people (26%)

Source: Ipsos MORI Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

Fig 44. How easy or difficult is it for you to afford your utility bill payments?

13%

24%

38%

18%

5%

1%

Very easy

Fairly easy

Very difficult

Neither easy nor difficult

Fairly difficult

Don’t know


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© 2013 Ipsos MORI.

say they have restricted their use of utilities and one in five (20%) have cut back on other living expenses. One in twenty (5%) have borrowed money from friends or family to help towards the cost of utility bills.

Fig 11. In the last 12 months, have you done any of the following to help pay your utility bills?

Younger people are more likely to have taken some form of action (mainly restricting use and cutting back on other living expenses) to help towards the cost of utility bills compared with older people. For example, 36% of 15-34 year olds and 33% of 35-44 year olds have restricted their use compared with 19% of those aged over 65 years. One in five 15-24 year olds (19%) have borrowed money from friends or family. While households with and without children are equally likely to restrict their use of utilities (27% and 26% respectively), households with children are more likely than households without children to cut back on other living expenses (38% versus 18%) and borrow money from friends or family (17% versus 3%).

Consistent with other findings throughout this report is how people’s financial confidence and situation affects their views. Nearly two- thirds (63%) of people who are not confident at managing their personal finances have taken actions to pay for utilities, compared with 37% of those who are confident. Similarly, seven in ten (70%) who are in a poor financial situation have taken actions, compared with a quarter (25%) of those in a good financial situation.

Over half of people with learning difficulties or social or behavioural problems (70%), memory impairments (61%), mental health problems (57%), sight problems (54%) and dexterity problems (52%) have taken actions to help pay their utility bills.


26

20

5

4

3

1

59

Restrict your use (by heating specific rooms or reusing water)

Cut back on other living expenses

Borrow money from friends or family

Use my overdraft

Pay using a credit card

Take out loans

None of these

Fig 43. In the last 12 months, have you done any of the following to help pay your utility bills?

Source: Ipsos MORI


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Looking ahead - future

financial prospects


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Looking ahead – future financial

prospects

Summary

In this chapter we explore disabled people’s expectations about their financial situation in two years’ time, and the reasons behind those expectations. The second part of this chapter looks at the current policy context and awareness of the Universal Credit. It also explores whether people receive direct payments and personal budgets.

Key points are:

People who feel their financial situation will be worse in two years’ time outnumber those who believe it will be better by almost three to one (36% compared with 13%) although nearly half (46%) feel their situation will remain unchanged.

Younger people (32% of those aged 15-34 years), workers (20%), and those with children (27%) were more likely to feel their situation would be better than older people (12% of those aged 45-64), those not in work (10%), and those without children (12%) respectively.

Disabled people in a poor financial situation are more likely than average to feel that it will be worse in two years’ time; over half say this (56%).

The impact of rising prices and bills is the most commonly reported reason why people expect their financial situation to be worse, with four out of ten (39%) pessimistic people mentioning this, followed by falling (real) incomes (15%) and being a pensioner or about to retire (15%).

The main reasons for optimistic views are having more money, a pay increase, or legacy or equity withdrawal (27%), and an improved employment situation through themselves or a partner having a job, returning to work, or working more hours (22%).

People who expect their financial situation to be the same generally put this down to stable circumstances (39%), while having a good pension or index-linked pension (for those approaching or in retirement) (10%) and ensuring that they live within their means (9%) are also mentioned.

Awareness of the new Universal Credit benefit system is low, with just under one in ten people (9%) saying they know a lot or a little about it and nearly half (45%) saying they know nothing at all.

Three in ten disabled people (30%) say they receive a Direct Payment, but only 2% have an Individual Budget. The relatively high proportion of those saying they receive a Direct Payment may suggest there is confusion about what constitutes a Direct Payment.


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Perceptions of financial prospects – the pessimists and optimists

People were asked whether they expected their financial situation to the better, worse, or the same, in two year’s time. Figure 13 shows that pessimists outnumber optimists by nearly three to one, with 13% expecting their situation to get better and 36% expecting it to get worse. Almost half (46%) do not expect their financial situation to change over this time.

Fig 13. Over the next two years, do you expect your financial situation to be . . .?

People aged under 35 years are much more optimistic (32%) about their future financial situation than older age groups (18% for 35-44 year olds and 12% for 45-64 year olds). The majority (58%) of those aged over 65 years expected their financial situation to remain unchanged. These findings are consistent with Ipsos MORI’s monthly political monitor which asks people whether the general economic condition of the country will improve or get worse over the next year. The balance of opinion shows that older people tend to be more negative in their outlook than younger people30.

No doubt reflecting their situation, working people are more optimistic than non-workers (20% compared with 10%), and those in households with children are more optimistic than those without children (27% compared with 12%).

There are differences in outlook by type of impairment, with the most pessimistic people being those with learning difficulties or social or behavioural problems (52% expecting things

30

http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/3030/Ipsos-MORI-Political-Monitor-August-2012.aspx

Source: Ipsos MORI Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

Fig 45. Over the next two years, do you expect your financial situation to be . . .?

13%

36%46%

5%

Better

Worse

About the same

Don’t know


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to be worse), memory impairments (50%), mental health problems (46%) and dexterity problems (44%).

In terms of why people think their financial situation will improve, Figure 14 shows that the most commonly reported reasons are having more money through a pay increase, legacy or equity withdrawal (27%), and an improved employment situation such as self/partner getting a job, returning to work, or working more hours (22%). Around one in eight people (13%) feel their situation will be improved as they have no debt or will have paid it off.

Fig 14. Why do you expect your financial situation to be better?

The impact of rising prices and bills (39%) is the most commonly reported reason for financial pessimism, followed by falling (real) incomes (15%) and imminent retirement (15%) (Figure 15).

Fig 46. Why do you expect your financial situation to be better?

Base: All disabled respondents who expect their financial situation to be better over the next two years (119)

27

22

13

10

8

5

5

4

3

3

Have more money/pay increase/legacy/equity

Have/partner has a job/returning to work/working more hours

No debt/paid off loans/credit cards

Living within my means/managing/not spending so much

Have/will be getting a good pension/index-linked pension

Possible change in circumstances



Low inflation

Improvement in health

Source: Ipsos MORI


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Fig 15. Why do you expect your financial situation to be worse?

People who expected their financial situation to be the same generally put this down to stable circumstances (39%), while having a good pension or index-linked pension (for those approaching or in retirement) (10%) and ensuring that they lived within their means (9%) are also mentioned (Figure 16).

Fig 16. Why do you expect your financial situation to be about the same?

Base: All disabled respondents who expect their financial situation to be worse over the next two years (363)

39

15

15

11

11

10

4

4

4

2


Lack of money/lower income/no wage increase

I'm a pensioner/about to retire

Hard to live on benefits/no increase in benefits/benefit cuts

Unemployed/no full time work/less hours/job insecurity

Depends on the economic situation/recession

Poor/incompetent government/poor policies



Poor health

Source: Ipsos MORI

Fig 47. Why do you expect your financial situation to be worse?

Base: All disabled respondents who expect their financial situation to be about the same over the next two years (474)

39

10

9

5

4

4

3

3

3

2

No change in situation/circumstances

Have/will be getting a good pension/index-link pension

Living within my means/managing/not spending so much


I'm a pensioner/about to retire

Have/partner has a job/returning to work/working more hours


Have a fixed income


Lack of money/lower income/no wage increase

Source: Ipsos MORI

Fig 48. Why do you expect your financial situation to be about the same?


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Policy context - Universal credit

There is relatively little awareness of the new Universal Credit benefit system. Figure 17 shows that 45% of disabled people say they knew nothing at all about Universal Credit before the interview, while a further 26% had heard of it but knew nothing about it, and fewer than one in ten people (9%) knew a lot or a fair amount. This low level of awareness is in line with DWP’s own research that shows that people’s understanding of the Universal Credit is fairly limited31.

Disabled men, those aged 35-64 years, and those in employment had higher than average awareness of the new benefits system, as did those who felt confident about managing their personal finances and those who had sought professional advice for personal finances.

People with chronic health problems, learning difficulties, social and behavioural problems, and mental health problems were also more likely to have heard of the Universal Credit.

Fig 17. The Government is introducing a new benefits system, whereby current benefits and tax credits will be replaced by one single benefit, the Universal Credit. Before today how much, if anything, would you say you knew about the Universal Credit?

Direct payment or personal budget

Three in ten people (30%) say they receive a direct payment, and 2% say they receive a personal budget. Those in receipt of a personal budget tend to be younger and have sight or mobility problems. People with learning difficulties or social and behavioural problems were most likely to have a direct payment (42%), followed by those with chronic health problems (39%).

31

http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2011-2012/rrep778.pdf

2%7%

19%

26%

45%

1%

A lotA fair amount

Heard of but know

nothing about it

Don’t know

A little

Nothing at all


Fig 8. The Government is introducing a new benefits system, whereby current benefits and tax

credits will be replaced by one single benefit, the Universal Credit. Before today how

much, if anything, would you say you knew about the Universal Credit?


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National Indicators used by NHS Information Centre for 2009/1032 show that 23% of adults with a learning disability received direct payments and/or a personal budget compared to 20% of adults with a physical disability and 5% of adults with a mental health condition. This data suggests that the actual proportion of recipients of direct payments may in reality be lower than the proportion reported in the survey and that there may be confusion about what people understand to be a direct payment.

32

http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/localgovernment/nationalindicator


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Credit and debt


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Credit and debt

This chapter explores issues of credit and debt for disabled people, including access to credit, levels of debt, and over-indebtedness (whether people are struggling with their debt).

Key points are:

Three in ten disabled people have never applied for credit; those who have have few concerns about doing so.

For those who have wanted to apply for credit but felt unable to, the main reasons given are being worried about being turned down (10%) and feeling credit is too expensive (7%).

One in eight (13%) of disabled people have been turned down for credit in the last five years. Two thirds (66%) of these had been turned down for a credit card and 30% had been turned down for a loan from a bank, building society or commercial lender.

A quarter (26%) of disabled people who had been turned down for credit had borrowed money from family or friends as a result of this, while 15% had been unable to replace a domestic appliance and 13% had missed payments on a bill.

Disabled people are less likely than non-disabled people to have a credit card (43% compared to 59%. Those who do have one are more likely than non-disabled people to have only one credit card (64% compared to 58%).

Disabled people are less likely to say they buy things on credit and pay it off later than non-disabled people. Nearly six in ten (68%) strongly disagree and 18% tend to disagree with the statement, compared to 47% and 23% of non-disabled people.

Just under half of all disabled people (46%) have some form of unsecured debt33 excluding mortgages. Credit cards (31%), loans from banks or building societies (11%), and mail order catalogues (9%) are the most common forms of debt. Younger people, workers, and those with children are more likely than average to be in debt, as are those who feel they are in a poor financial situation and those who do not feel confident managing their money.

People’s impairment is related to levels of debt. People with mental health problems are most likely to be in debt (61%), followed by those with learning difficulties or social or behavioural problems (59%), those with memory impairments (53%) and those with dexterity impairments (53%).

Households with disabled children are more likely to be in debt – 75% compared with 43%

Half of people (49%) have used a loan or credit card to pay for everyday items in the previous 12 months, most commonly to pay for clothing, food, a holiday, or for an unexpected expense. Younger people are more likely to use credit cards for everyday

33 Unsecured debt includes credit card debt, utility bills and any other type of loan or credit that is not backed by

an asset or collateral (such as a house).


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necessities (such as clothing or food) whereas older people are more likely to use credit cards for luxury items such as holidays.

While disabled people are less likely to have a credit card than non-disabled people, they are more likely to say they have been unable to make a minimum payment in the last 12 months (19% versus 12%).

One in ten (9%) disabled people say keeping up with repayments for their debt is a heavy burden, compared to 16% of non-disabled people.

Data from the Wealth and Assets Survey shows that disabled people are disproportionately likely to turn to loansharks – 1 in 10 compared with just 3% of non-disabled people.

Disabled people are more likely to say they took out a loan to meet basic needs than non-disabled people, such as to pay bills (14% compared to 9%) and to make ends meet (15% compared to 7%).

Disabled people are less likely to be keeping up with debt repayments – 6% are two or more consecutive repayments behind, compared with 4% of non-disabled people.

Analysis of the Wealth and Assets Survey by ISER shows that households containing a sick or disabled person have higher levels of unsecured debt as a ratio of household income than the general population.

Access to credit

In the survey, respondents were asked whether they have ever wanted to apply for credit but felt unable to, and the results are shown in Figure 18. Three in ten people (29%) say they have never applied for credit, and the majority of those who have applied did not have any concerns. The most frequently mentioned reasons for not applying for credit are concerns about being turned down (10%), a feeling that credit is too expensive (7%) and a worry about keeping up with repayments (6%). Only 3% of people had not applied for credit because they thought their impairment or health condition would disqualify them.


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Fig 18. Have you ever wanted to apply for credit but felt unable to for any of these reasons?

Younger people are more likely than older people to feel unable to apply for credit, with a quarter (25%) of those aged 15-34 years and a fifth (21%) of those aged 35-44 years citing worries about being turned down. Working people are more likely than non-workers to feel unable to apply for credit for this reason (15% versus 7%) as are households with children in comparison to those without children (26% versus 8%). This is notable given that one might expect people in work to be more confident about their finances but this may also reflect a lower age profile of those in work.

There is concern about applying for credit and being turned down among people who are not confident about managing their personal finances (24% compared with 7% who are confident) and those who feel their financial situation is poor compared to those who see it as being good (21% versus 3%). Among those who feel they are in a poor financial situation around one in six (16%) do not apply because they are worried about keeping up with repayments.

Being turned down for credit

The survey also asked whether people had ever been turned down for credit in the previous five years, and only one in eight people (13%) said this had been the case (Figure 19).

10

7

6

3

1

1

29

52

Yes but worried about being turned down

Yes but feel credit is too expensive

Yes but worried about keeping up with repayments

yes but worried my disability/health condtion would disqualify me

Yes but didn't understand how much I would have to pay back in the end

Yes but not sure how to apply

No, never applied for credit

None of these


Fig 30. Have you ever wanted to apply for credit but felt unable to for any of these reasons?


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Fig 19. Have you ever been turned down for credit in the last 5 years? (e.g. credit card, loan, store card)?

People more likely than average to say they have been turned down for credit are:

Households with children (33%);

Those who are not confident about managing their personal finances (30%);

People who consider themselves in a poor financial situation (30%); and

People with learning difficulties or social or behavioural problems (29%) or those with mental health problems (28%).

13%

85%

2%Yes

No

Base: All disabled respondents (1009)Source: Ipsos MORI

Fig 31. Have you ever been turned down for credit in the last 5 years? (e.g. credit card, loan,

store card)?


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People who have been turned down for credit were asked what kind of credit they had been turned down for and Figure 20 shows that two-thirds (66%) had been turned down for a credit card, 30% had been turned down for a loan from a bank, building society or commercial lender, and 14% had been turned down for a store card.

There is little variation in these patterns by respondent characteristics, although 41% of people in a poor financial situation said that they had been turned down for a loan from a bank, building society or other commercial lender, and 13% had been turned down for a mail order catalogue debt.

Fig 20. What kind of credit have you been turned down for?

People who have been turned down for credit were also asked what, if anything, happened as a result of them being turned down. Four in ten people (41%) said that nothing happened as a result of being turned down; a quarter (26%) had to borrow money from family or friends; 15% could not replace a domestic appliance; 13% missed payments on a bill, and 11% had to apply for credit with a higher interest rate.

These consequences are more likely to be felt by people who are not confident about managing their personal finances, and by those who are in a poor financial situation. Around 40% of these people say they had to borrow money from family or friends, and 20% said that they had missed payments on a bill, which suggests that these people were applying for credit out of necessity rather than luxury.

Source: Ipsos MORI

Fig 32. What kind of credit have you been turned down for?

66

30

14

8

7

4

4

3

1

3

Credit card(s)

Loan from a bank, building society or commercial loan company

Store card(s)

Payday loan

Mail order catalogue debt

Doorstep loan

Social Fund

Loan from a friend/relative

Overdraft

Other types of debt

Base: All respondents who have been turned down for credit in the last 5 years (122)


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Levels of debt

Data from the Wealth and Assets Survey (Figure 21) shows that disabled people are less likely to have a credit card than non-disabled people. Less than half (43%) of disabled people have a credit card, compared to six in ten (59%) non-disabled people34.

Fig 21. Do you have any credit or charge cards?


Base: All respondents (29,802) %

(10,789) %

Yes 59 43

No 41 57


Disabled people are also less likely to say they tend to buy things on credit and pay it off later than non-disabled people. Nearly six in ten (58%) strongly disagree with the statement, and a fifth tend to disagree (18%).

Fig 22. I tend to buy things on credit and pay it off later

In the survey, people were asked if they have any type of unsecured debt or owe money, (excluding mortgages). Figure 27 shows that just under half of people (46%) owe money in

34

Wealth and Assets Survey, Office for National Statistics, July 2006 - June 2008

5

17

9

23

47

1

4

14

6

18

58

1

Strong to agree

Tend to agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Tend to disagree

Strongly disagree

Don't know


Fig 26. I tend to buy things on credit and pay it off later

Base: All respondents: No limiting/long term illness/disability (29,815) Has limiting

long-term illness/disability (10,787)Source: Wealth and Assets Survey


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some form or another, with the most common form of debt being credit cards, mentioned by 31% of people followed by loans from a bank, building society or other commercial lender (11%), and mail order catalogue debt (9%).

Fig 23. Excluding any mortgages, do you (and your spouse/partner) currently owe money on any of the following?

People answering the survey face-to-face are less likely than those completing the survey online to be in debt (68% compared with 51%). Consistent with this finding is that non-internet users are less likely than internet users to be in debt (84% compared with 51%). This is likely to be related the younger age profile of internet users and those completing the survey online.

Around two-thirds of people aged under 45 years have unsecured debt in some form or another, compared with 47% of those aged 45- 64 years and 34% of those aged over 65 years. Among people aged 15-34 years, one in five (19%) have a student loan, while two in five people (38%) aged 35-44 years have a credit card.

Working people are more likely than those not working to be in debt; 41% of working people owe money on a credit card compared with 26% of non-workers, and 18% of working people have a loan compared with seven % of non-workers.

Three-quarters of people (75%) in households with children owe money, compared with 43% of those in households without children, and around one in ten people in households with children owe money for goods on hire purchase (10%), doorstep loans (10%), Social Fund (nine %), or a payday loan (eight %). Again, this is likely to be linked to the younger age profile of households with children.

There is little variation in the level of debt by household income levels, which may be because lower and higher income households have different types of debt and different levels of ability to pay off debt. Two-thirds of people (65%) who feel they are in a poor financial situation owe money in one form or another, compared with one third (34%) who

31

11

9

5

4

4

4

2

2

1

1

54

Credit cards

Loan from a bank, building society or commercial loan company

Mail order catalogue debt

Store card(s)

Student loan

Loan from a friend/relative

Household goods or car bought on hire purchase

Doorstep loand

Social Fund

Payday loan

Overdraft

None of these


Fig 26. Excluding any mortgages, do you (and your spouse/partner) currently owe money on

any of the following?


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feel they are in a good financial situation. It is difficult to establish causality here but it is likely that being in debt contributes to people feeling their financial situation is poor.

Those who are not confident managing their money are more likely to be in debt than those who are confident (62% compared with 43%). Again, it is difficult to gauge the causality here, it could be that people who have got into debt do not feel confident about managing their money, or that people who are not confident managing their money get into situations where they need to borrow or get into debt.

People with mental health problems are most likely to be in debt (61%), followed by those with learning difficulties or social or behavioural problems (59%), those with memory impairments (53%) and those with dexterity impairments (53%).

Looking at what disabled people use credit cards for, half of all people (49%) have used a credit card or money from a loan to make purchases in the previous 12 months, with the most common purchases being clothing for themselves (26%), followed by food (25%), a holiday (18%), an unexpected expense (17%), a leisure activities (14%) or clothing for other family members (11%). One in ten people (10%) have used a credit card to pay regular bills. See Figure 24.

Fig 24. Have you used a credit card or money from a loan for any of the following purposes in the past 12 months?

There is also little variation in the proportions of people using credit cards or loans by employment status, household composition, type of impairment or age. However, there is a difference by age in terms of what people use their credit cards for. Younger people are more likely than older people to use them for paying utility bills (13% for 15-34 year olds compared with 1% for people aged over 65 years) or paying off another loan or debt (10% for 15-34 year olds compared with 2% for people aged over 65 years) whereas older people are more likely to use them for holidays (22% for people aged over 65 years compared with 10% of 15-34 year olds) or leisure activities (19% for people aged over 65 years compared with six % for 15-34 year olds).

26

25

18

17

14

11

10

7

5

4

4

3

2

1

50

To pay for clothing for yourself

To pay for food

To pay for a holiday

To pay for an unexpected expense

To pay for leisure activities

To pay for clothing for other family members

To pay regular bills

To pay for home improvements

To pay utility (gas/electricity/water) bills

To pay off another type of credit (loan, credit card)

To pay for a car

To pay for equipment/services related to my …

To pay for study

To pay for home improvements due to disability/health …

None of these

Base: All disabled respondents (1009)Source: Ipsos MORI

Fig 28. Have you used a credit card or money from a loan for any of the following purposes in

the past 12 months?


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The use of credit cards and loans tends to increase with household income, and patterns of use change as well, with people in the lowest income households (below £6,500) more likely to use them to pay for regular bills or utility bills, and people in the highest income households (above £30,000) more likely to use them for luxuries such as a holiday, leisure activities or a car.

People who have received professional financial advice are more likely to use credit cards or loans than those who have not received professional advice (62% compared with 45%). This may be because those seeking professional advice are more confident about how to use credit cards. There is also a significant difference by internet usage with non-internet users being less likely to use credit cards or loans than internet users (23% compared with 53%).

Over-indebtedness

It is important to remember that being in debt is not always a bad thing, if the debt is being well managed. Where people become over-indebted is when debt becomes problematic. Analysis of the Wealth and Assets Survey done by the Institute for Social and Economic Research for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) looks at the concept of over-indebtedness and disabled people.

They key measures of over-indebtedness used by the ISER are:

Being in credit arrears

Debt as a subjective burden

Number of credit commitments outstanding

Ratio of unsecured debt to household income exceeding 25%

Ratio of unsecure debt to household income exceeding 50%

Looking at each of these measures, we can build a picture of the level of over-indebtedness faced by disabled people.

Being in credit arrears

As we have seen earlier in this chapter, disabled people are less likely to have a credit card than non-disabled people. However, while they are less likely to have a credit card than non-disabled people, they are more likely to have been unable to make a minimum payment on the cards in the past 12 months, as shown in Figure 25.


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Fig 25. Have you been unable to make the minimum payment on these cards at any time during the past 12 months?

Burden of debt

When asked how much of a burden keeping up with payments for all sources of unsecured debt (overdrafts, credit cards, store cards, loans, etc) is, disabled people are less likely to say it is a heavy burden than non-disabled people (9% versus 16% respectively), as shown in Figure 26. Given disabled people are less likely to have as many credit cards or store cards as non-disabled people, and are generally keeping up with their loan repayments, this may explain why they find repayments less burdensome. However, it should be remembered, as noted earlier, that disabled people are more likely to say they have been unable to make a minimum payment on their credit card in the last 12 months.

Fig 26. Thinking about the [overdraft(s)/credit card(s)/store card(s)/ credit agreement(s)/loan(s)/bill payments] you have just told me about, to what extent is keeping up with the repayment of them and any interest payments a financial burden to you? Would you say it was…?


Base: All respondents who have debt (21,898) %

(6,419) %

A heavy burden 16 9

Somewhat of a burden 21 23

Not a problem at all 63 67


12

88

19

81

Yes

No


Fig 28. Have you been unable to make the minimum payment on these cards at any time during the past 12 months?

Base: All respondents who have a credit card: No limiting/long term illness/disability

(5,611) Has limiting long-term illness/disability (1,382)Source: Wealth and Assets Survey


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Number of credit commitments

From the survey data, we can see that only small numbers of disabled people have loans, whether these are personal loans, student loans, or others. The Wealth and Assets Survey looks in more detail at the type of loans disabled people have and allow us to compare this against the non-disabled population. As seen in Figure 30, disabled people who have a loan are less likely than non-disabled people to have a personal loan from a bank or building society (59% of disabled people compared to 68% of non-disabled people). They are, however, much more likely to have a cash loan from a company that comes to your home, with one in ten (10%) having this, compared to just 3% of non-disabled people. In our survey, only 2% said they had a doorstep loan, but the different use of terminology may have resulted in more individuals recognising this as their loan in the Wealth and Assets Survey. The high number using these kinds of home collecting loans may be worrying, given the higher interest rates usually associated and vulnerable position of disabled people. Providing access to better sources of credit for disabled people may be required.

Disabled people are also much more likely to have a loan from the Social Fund, with 15% having one compared to 3% of non-disabled people, given they are more likely to be on lower incomes this is perhaps expected.

Fig 27. Thinking of your first/second/etc loan. What type of loan is it?

Looking at why disabled people took out these loans, the difficult financial position disabled people often find themselves is once again in evidence. Disabled people are more likely to say they took out a loan to pay bills (14% compared to 9%) and to make ends meet (15% compared to 7%) than non-disabled people. The fact that disabled people are taking loans out for these everyday expenses, coupled with the fact they are more likely to take out a loan from a company that comes to their home to collect payments, raises concerns about the financial difficulties they may be finding themselves in.

68

3

0

1

3

2

5

14

2

0

1

59

10

0

2

15

1

6

5

1

0

2

A personal loan, e.g. bank, building society, finance …

A cash loan from a company that comes to your home …

A loan from a pawnbroker/ cash converter

A loan from a Credit Union

A loan from the Social Fund

A loan from an employer

A loan from a friend, relative, or other private individual

A loan from the Student Loan Company

A student loan from a bank or building society

A loan from a pay day lender

Another type of loan


Thinking of your first/second/etc loan. What type of loan is it? Source: Wealth and Assets Survey

Base: All who have a loan: No limiting/long term illness/disability (3,606)

Has limiting long-term illness/disability (978) Source: Wealth and Assets Survey


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Fig 28. Did you take out your loan for any of these reasons…?

Looking at whether disabled people are keeping up with repayments on their loans, the story is positive (Figure 35). The vast majority (94%) are keeping up with repayments, while 6% say they are two more consecutive payments behind. For non-disabled people the figures are 96% keeping up with repayments and 4% two or more consecutive payments behind. The difference between disabled and non-disabled people is small, but statistically significant.

Fig 29. Have you been able to keep up with the repayments for this loan, or are you 2 or more consecutive payments behind?


Base: All respondents who have a loan

(3,533) %

(969) %

Keeping up with repayments 96 94 Two or more consecutive payments behind

4 6


When we look at the number of credit cards disabled people hold, we can see that disabled people are more likely than non-disabled people to have only one credit card. They are also more likely to have only one store card (69% of disabled people who have a store card have only one, compared to 66% of non-disabled people).

56

24

10

9

7

7

2

50

20

7

14

15

9

1

To spend on a particular item

To pay off other debts

To refinance other borrowing

To pay bills

To make ends meet

Other

To finance a business


Fig 31. Did you take out your loan for any of these reasons…?

Base: All who have a loan that is not a student loan: No limiting/long

term illness/disability (3,111) Has limiting long-term

illness/disability (934) Source: Wealth and Assets Survey


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Fig 30. How many credit cards do you have?


Base: All respondents who have a credit card

(18,387) %

(4,908) %

1 58 64

2 26 22

3 10 8

4 4 2

5 2 2

6 1 1


Debt as a ratio of household income

The final two indicators of over-indebtedness are the ratio of debt to household income. From the analysis done by ISER for BIS we can see that:

19% of households with a sick or disabled person have unsecured debt totalling more than 25% of income, compared to 9% of households overall.

16% of households with a sick or disabled person have unsecured debt totalling more than 50% of income, compared to 8% of households overall.35

This clearly shows a higher level of debt as a ratio of household income amongst disabled households than exists among the general population. Taken with the previous data, we can see that disabled people do appear to have a higher level of over-indebtedness than non-disabled people and the general population. This is not entirely clear cut, as in some ways (for example number of credit commitments) disabled people are managing better, but in other key areas, such as being in arrears and debt as a ratio of household income, disabled people are doing worse than non-disabled people.

35

OVER-INDEBTEDNESS IN GREAT BRITAIN: AN ANALYSIS USING THE WEALTH AND ASSETS SURVEY AND HOUSEHOLD ANNUAL DEBTORS SURVEY, Report to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Institue for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex, October 2010


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Banking


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Banking

Summary

This chapter investigates issues around access to banking for disabled people. We first look at physical access issues, before considering the use of alternative banking channels such as online and mobile banking service. We then investigate preferences around payments and the use of chip and signature versus chip and PIN.

Key points are:

The majority of disabled people (75%) have found it easy to physically access their bank or building society in the previous 12 months. Difficulty with transport was cited as the most common problem (37%), followed by the cost of getting to the branch (22%), anxiety or a lack of confidence (18%) as well as difficulty getting into buildings (17%).

The average (mean) time it took people to get to their bank or building society was 20 minutes and six in ten people (61%) are able to get to their bank within this time. A quarter (24%) are able to reach their branch in less than ten minutes.

Potential access to internet banking is lower for disabled people than non-disabled people, as fewer have the internet at home. Just over six in ten (64%) have access to the internet at home, compared to over eight in ten of non-disabled people (84%).

These findings from the ONS Opinions Survey are reflected in the survey findings around internet banking, with two-thirds of respondents (67%) saying they use it. However, just over one in ten people (12%) say they use mobile banking. The majority of those who have used either service have experienced no problems, and for those who have experienced problems the difficulties focused around slow or unreliable internet connections, remembering passwords, and safety or security concerns – rather than issues around accessibility or barriers relating to disability.

The potential for increasing the use of online and mobile banking among people appears to be mixed. Only one in ten respondents (10%) who do not use online banking express an interest in using it in the future, although there is a much greater degree of interest in mobile banking with four out of ten respondents (40%) interested in using it in the future.

The most commonly preferred payment method for everyday purchases is the debit card (46%) followed by cash (32%). Younger respondents and those in lower income households are more likely to express a preference for using cash than average.

Four in ten people (43%) say they know a lot or a fair amount about chip and signature cards, and a further 26% say they know a little. Three in ten (31%) say they have heard of them or know nothing at all. When asked whether people would prefer a chip and PIN or chip and signature card, there is a strong preference for using the chip and PIN card (77%) compared with 9% who say they would prefer a chip and signature card.


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Accessibility - physical access to banks

The majority of disabled people (75%) found it easy to physically access their bank or building society in the previous 12 months. Just under half of people (47%) found it very easy to access their bank or building society, and a further quarter (27%) found it fairly easy. This compares with one in eight people (12%) who found it very or fairly difficult. The average length of time it took people to get to their bank or building society was 20 minutes, and for six out of ten people (61%) it took less than this.

While there is little variation by age, disabled men were more likely to find it easy to access their bank/building society than were disabled women (79% compared with 71%).

Those who were confident in managing financial matters (78%), and those in a good financial situation (84%), found it easier to access their bank/building society compared with those who were not confident (59%), or in a poor financial situation (64%). This suggests that barriers associated with accessing the bank are not just based on physical factors but also psychological factors.

Around one in five people with learning difficulties, social or behavioural problems (23%), memory impairments (21%), dexterity impairments (21%), and mental health problems (18%) found it difficult to physically access their bank or building society.

Fig 31. In the last 12 months, how easy or difficult have you found it to physically access your bank or building society?

People who found it difficult to physically access their bank or building society were asked for reasons behind this. The most commonly reported reason was difficulty with transport (37%), followed by cost of getting to the bank/building society (22%), anxiety or lack of confidence (18%) and difficulty getting into the building (17%). This reinforces the earlier finding whereby people who are less confident about managing their money find it more difficult to access their bank. These findings are also consistent with research elsewhere among disabled


47%

27%

12%

8%4%

Very easy

Fairly easy

Very difficult

Neither easy nor difficult

Fairly difficult

Fig 15. In the last 12 months, how easy or difficult have you found it to physically access your

bank or building society?

Source: Ipsos MORI


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people, who often cite transport and cost as a barrier to accessing services as well as concerns over how they may be treated by service providers36.

Fig 32. For which of the following reasons, if any, did you find it difficult to access your bank or building society?

Access to financial products

Looking at disabled people’s access to financial products, data from the Wealth and Assets Survey shows that disabled people are less likely to have nearly all of the accounts and investments asked about than non-disabled people (Figure 33). While 94% of non-disabled people have a current account, this falls to 87% of disabled people. Disabled people are less likely to have savings products such as a savings or deposit account (47% compared to 57%), or an ISA (30% compared to 37%).

Disabled people are also much less likely to have Life Insurance, Friendly Society or endowment policies; a fifth (20%) of non-disabled people have these, while only 13% of disabled people do.

These differences highlight the financial exclusion of some disabled people, particularly for basic financial products such as current accounts.

36

Ipsos MORI report for ODI, Life Opportunities for Disabled People: Qualitative research on choice and control and access to goods and services, December 2012, http://odi.dwp.gov.uk/docs/res/los/los-qr-cc.pdf

37

22

18

17

11

11

9

8

7

4

4

4

4

3

3

2

1

3

3

Difficulty with transport

Cost of getting to the bank

Anxiety/lack of confidence

Difficulty getting into buildings

Lack of appropriate facilities in the bank

Difficulty using facilities

Staff not understanding your disability/health condition

Lack of help with communication

Too far to travel

Branch closed down

Immobility/poor health

Lack of accessible information

Lack of parking

Not providing a home visit

Poor opening hours

Staff not trusting you can make your own decisions

Disabled

Other difficulties

None of these

Base: All disabled respondents who find it difficult to physically access their bank/building society (125) Source: Ipsos MORI

Fig 16. For which of the following reasons, if any, did you find it difficult to access your bank or

building society?


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Fig 33. Which of these types of accounts and investments you currently have, including any joint accounts and including any overseas accounts and investments?

Access to online banking

The ONS Opinions Survey37 asks a number of questions on computer and internet use, which helps give insight into the level of access disabled people have to online banking. The data shows that disabled people are much less likely to have access to a computer and the internet at home, while 67% of disabled people do have access to a computer and 64% have access to the internet, this compares to 86% of non-disabled people who have access to a computer at home, and 84% who have internet access at home.

37

ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey. Internet Access Module, January, February, March and April, 2010


Giving to charityWhich of these types of accounts and investments you currently

have, including any joint accounts and including any overseas

accounts and investments?

94

57

37

6

6

5

6

12

18

0

20

1

87

47

30

6

5

4

2

9

17

0

13

1

Current account (including Basic Bank Account and Post Office …

Savings or deposit account

Individual Savings Account (ISA -any type, including TESSA-ISA)

Fixed-term investment bonds (from a bank or building society)

Personal Equity Plan (PEP)

Unit Trusts or Investment Trusts

Employee shares and share options

Other shares

Premium Bonds or other National Savings Bonds/Certificates

Government or corporate bonds and gilts

Life Insurance, Friendly Society or endowment policies (excluding …

Other financial assets


Base: All respondents. No limiting long-term illness/disability

(29,650), has limiting long-term illness/disability (10,704).

Excluding DKs.


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Fig 34. Do you or anyone in your household have access to a computer at home? Do you or anyone in your household have access to the internet at home?

Figure 35 shows that disabled people are also more likely to say they do not need the internet because it is not useful, interesting etc, 43% give this as a reason for not having the internet at home, compared to 34% of non-disabled people. Interestingly, only 4% of disabled people give their reason for not having internet at home as a physical disability.

86

14

84

16

67

33

64

36

Yes - has a computer at home

No - does not have a computer at home

Yes - has internet access at home

No - does not have internet access at home


Do you or anyone in your household have access to a computer at home? Do you or anyone in your household have access to the

internet at home?

Base: All respondents: No limiting/long term illness/disability (3,143)

Has limiting long-term illness/disability (917) Source: ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey


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There is a question here about why disabled people think the internet is less useful or not interesting to them. Given the increasing movement towards financial information and advice being online - whether this is information about benefits or financial products, or actually managing finances through online banking and applications - that such a large proportion of disabled people appear to be uninterested in the internet could limit their ability to access financial advice and services.

Fig 35. What are the reasons for not having access to the internet at home?

10

19

34

18

17

17

4

0

15

6

21

43

19

12

25

4

4

13

Have access to the Internet elsewhere

Don't want Internet (because content harmful, etc.)

Don't need Internet (because not useful, not interesting, etc.)

Equipment costs too high

Access cost too high (telephone, etc.)

Lack of skills

Privacy or security concerns

Physical disability

None of the above


Reasons for not having internet at home Source: ONS Opinions Survey

Base: All those without internet access at home. No limiting/long

term illness/disability (727) Has limiting long-term

illness/disability (319) Source: ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey


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In our survey, two-thirds of respondents (67%) use online banking, although only 12% use mobile banking (Figure 17).

Fig 36. Do you use mobile banking?

Age is related to the use of online banking with younger people more likely to use it than older people; 82% of those aged 15-34 years use online banking compared with 59% of those over retirement age, although even among the oldest age group over half (59%) report using online banking38. Usage of online banking is higher among working people than non-workers (78% versus 62%).

Online banking use is below average among people who are not confident managing their personal finances (57%), those for whom someone else is mainly responsible for paying bills (51%), or for managing day-to-day money (53%).

Two-thirds of respondents (67%) who used online banking did not experience any problems with it, and where there are problems they tend to focus around internet connections being too slow (13%), difficulty remembering passwords (11%) and concerns over safety and security (11%) rather than issues relating to disability or website accessibility.

Young respondents are more likely to have experienced problems than older respondents; 51% of people aged 15-34 years say they have not experienced problems compared to 72% for those above retirement age – although this no doubt reflects the greater usage of online banking among younger people.

Respondents with sight problems, memory impairments, learning difficulties, and social or behavioural problems are more likely than those with other impairments to report problems

38

These figures should be interpreted with caution given that the vast majority of people responded to the survey online and are therefore more likely to be proficient in using the internet to make financial transactions.

Online banking

% Yes % No

67%

33%

Mobile banking

12%

88%


Fig 17. Do you use online banking?

Do you use mobile banking?


Source: Ipsos MORI


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with online banking. The particular problems tend to relate to their impairments, for example respondents with sight problems reported being unable to read the website text (9%) and difficulty using card readers (8%), and difficulty remembering passwords was most commonly reported by respondents with memory impairments (18%), learning difficulties (22%), and social or behavioural problems (22%).

Fig 37. In the last 12 months, have you experienced any of the following problems with online banking?

As is the case with online banking use, the use of mobile banking is higher among younger respondents than older respondents (32% among 15-34 year olds compared with 5% for those aged over 65 years), higher among workers than those not in work (20% versus 8%), and higher among those in households with children than those without (36% versus 10%). However, there is little variation by respondents’ financial situation.

Of those using mobile banking, 63% of respondents do not generally experience any problems using it (Figure 19). Where there are problems, they are similar to those cited for online banking such as slow or unreliable mobile internet connections (20%), concerns over safety and security (10%) and difficulty remembering passwords (nine %).

These findings suggest that the barriers associated with using both online and mobile banking are not related to disability per se, but wider issues around reliability of internet connection and security that are likely to be issues observed among the general population as a whole.

13

11

11

3

3

3

2

1

1

1

1

2

67

Internet connection being too slow

Difficulty remembering passwords

Concerns over safety/security

Difficulty using card readers

Not being able to access internt in a private …

Not having regular access to the internet

Website being too difficult to use

Unable to read the website text

Website not working with your audio software

Website down/crashing

RBS/NatWest computer crash

Other difficulties

None of these

Base: All disabled respondents who use online banking (663)

Fig 18. In the last 12 months, have you experienced any of the following problems with online

banking?

Source: Ipsos MORI


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Fig 38. In the last 12 months, have you experienced any of the following problems with mobile banking?

Increasing take up of online and mobile banking

Respondents who do not use online or mobile banking were asked how interested they would be in using these services in the future (Figure 39). The findings suggest that there is little appetite for increased usage of online banking as only one in ten people (10%) state they are very or fairly interested in using online banking in the future, and 68% say they are not at all interested39. Again, this reflects the findings from the ONS Opinions Survey where the most common reason for not having the internet at home amongst disabled people was it not being of interest or useful to them. There does, however, appear to be a greater degree of interest in mobile banking, with four in ten respondents (40%) who do not currently use it saying they are very or fairly interested in using it in the future, although a similar proportion (44%) is not at all interested.

39

These findings should be interpreted with caution given that the majority of the sample completed the survey online so are already familiar/comfortable with using the internet.

20

10

9

6

4

3

2

63

Internet connection on your mobile too slow/unreliable

Concerns over safety/security

Difficulty remembering passwords

Application being too difficult to use

Not being able to read the mobile text

Difficulty using card readers

Other difficulties

None of these

Base: All disabled respondents who use mobile banking (108) Source: Ipsos MORI

Fig 19. In the last 12 months, have you experienced any of the following problems with mobile

banking?


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Fig 39. How interested, if at all, would you be in using online banking?

How interested, if at all, would you be using mobile banking?

Younger respondents are more interested than older respondents in using mobile banking (56% for 15-34 year olds compared with 32% for those aged over 65 years) and working people are more interested that those out of work (53% compared with 35%).

There is little variation in interest for online banking by type of impairment. However, there is variation by impairment for mobile banking. People with mental health problems (54%) and learning difficulties, and social or behavioural problems (52%) are more likely than those with other impairments to want to use mobile banking in the future.

Payment mechanisms

Debit cards are the most popular method of payment for everyday purchases such as food, clothes or leisure activities, with 46% of people saying they prefer to use debit cards, while 32% prefer to pay by cash, 10% prefer to use a cheque or other form of payment and 11% do not express a preference.

Younger people are more likely than older ones to use cash (42% of 15-34 year olds compared with 28% of those aged over 65 years). Working people are more likely than non-workers to use debit cards (54% compared with 42%), and less likely than non-working people to use cash (24% compared with 36%).

People who are confident in managing their personal finances tend to prefer debit cards (48%), while those who are not confident tend to prefer cash (49%). People who share responsibility for bills and managing day-to-day money prefer debit cards (57% and 50% respectively), while people for whom someone else was mainly responsible for bills or managing day-to-day money tend to prefer cash (46% and 50% respectively) – this is likely to be related to issues around confidence.

Online banking

2%

8%

20%

68%

Mobile banking

28%

13%

13%

44%

Base: All disabled respondents who do not use online banking (346) Base: All disabled respondents who do not use mobile banking (901)

% Fairly interested% Very interested

% Not very interested % Not at all interested

Source: Ipsos MORI

Fig 20 How interested, if at all, would you be in using online banking?

How interested, if at all, would you be using mobile banking?


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Lower income households express a greater preference to use cash, and as household income levels rise the preference tends to shift away from cash towards debit cards and ‘other’ payment methods.

Fig 40. How do you prefer to pay for everyday purchases, such as food, clothes or leisure activities?

Chip and signature cards

Chip and signature cards are cards that allow people to sign for purchases, rather than enter a PIN. They can be easier for disabled people who find it hard to use a PIN machine or remember a PIN. Currently, the availability of chip and signature cards are not always publicised by banks and building societies, so it was interesting to look at how many disabled people are aware of their existence. People were asked how much, if anything, they knew about chip and signature cards. Figure 41 shows that one in ten people (10%) feel they know a lot, a third (33%) feel they know a fair amount and a quarter (26%) feel they know a little about chip and signature cards. Around one in six people (16%) have heard of them but know nothing about them, and a similar proportion (15%) has heard nothing at all about them. While it is difficult to say whether these awareness levels are higher than expected, one reason that may have contributed to these levels is the campaign launched by the Payments Council just prior to this survey on 18 July 201240, which was aimed at raising awareness of how chip and signature cards work.

Awareness is higher among younger respondents; one in five people aged 15-44 years feel they know a lot about chip and signature cards, compared with fewer than one in ten (9%) people aged 45-64. Working people are more likely to say they know a lot (15%) compared with 8% of those not working.

40

http://www.paymentscouncil.org.uk/media_centre/press_releases/-/page/2176/


46%

32%

1%

9%

11%

With a debit card

With cash

I don’t have a preference

With a cheque

Other

Source: Ipsos MORI

Fig 21. How do you prefer to pay for everyday purchases, such as food, clothes or leisure

activities?


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Fig 41. How much, if anything, would you say you know about chip and signature cards?

People were given an explanation of the differences between chip and signature, and chip and PIN cards, and were asked which they would prefer. Three-quarters of people (77%) said they would prefer chip and PIN cards, while nine % said they would prefer chip and signature cards. These findings suggest there may still be a lack of understanding over how chip and signature cards work.

10%

33%

26%

16%

15%

A lot

A fair amount

Nothing at all

A little

Heard of but know

nothing about them

Fig 22. How much, if anything, would you say you know about chip and signature cards?



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In this chapter we explore existing and survey data on disabled people’s ability to save, and attitudes towards saving generally as well as saving for retirement. The chapter also explores the types of insurance disabled people have, whether they had been turned down for insurance and the reasons why, and the affordability of insurance in terms of whether they felt they paid more because of their disability or health condition.

Key points are:

The majority of disabled people (85%) say they have not saved money during the last 12 months because they cannot afford to - a significantly higher number than non-disabled people (79%).

Disabled people are less likely to save regularly than non-disabled people, half (50%) have saved money in the last month, compared to 59% of non-disabled people. They are also less likely to say they will save money in the next 12 months, 87% say they will not compared to 73% of non-disabled people.

In terms of attitudes towards saving, the survey found that disabled people find it easier to make ad-hoc ‘rainy day’ savings rather than regular planned monthly savings (28% compared with 17%).

Disabled people are very concerned about funding their retirement, 60% say they worry a lot about having enough income to get by, compared to less than half of non-disabled people (44%).

Over a third of disabled people feel their income in retirement will be less than enough to meet their needs (36%).

Disabled people are much more likely to be solely reliant on the state pension and pension credits for their income during retirement. Only a quarter (24%) expect to have funds from an occupational or personal pension during retirement, compared to half (51%) of non-disabled people.

The majority of people say they have some type of insurance, with three-quarters (76%) having home contents insurance, 61% having car insurance, 29% life insurance, and 27% travel insurance. Older people are more likely than younger ones to have insurance, and the likelihood of having insurance increases with household income.

People with mental health problems (31%), learning difficulties, social or behavioural problems (31%) and those with memory impairments (26%) are more likely to have no form of insurance than average (14%).

Only 8% of people say they have been turned down for insurance, although six in ten (61%) of those who have been turned down felt it was for a reason related to their impairment or health condition41.

41

This finding should be interpreted with caution due to a small base size (n=79).


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Two-thirds of people (65%) feel that their impairment or health condition has no impact on the amount they paid for insurance, although around one in five (22%) feel that they pay more for insurance because of their impairment.

Ability to save

When looking at current financial situation earlier in this report, we saw that disabled people were more likely to find it difficult to make ends meet. It is therefore not surprising to see from the Wealth and Assets Survey (Figure 42) that most disabled people feel they cannot afford to save money, 85% give this as their reason for not saving, compared to 79% of non-disabled people.

Fig 42. There are many reasons why people don’t save money. Can I just check, during the last 12 months, what were your reasons for not saving?

For those who do save, half (50%) have saved money in the last month, compared to 59% of non-disabled people (Figure 43). Disabled people are much more likely to say they last saved more than 12 months ago, three in ten (29%) say this, compared to under a fifth (18%) of non-disabled people. Again, this supports previous findings around the stretched financial position of disabled people.

79

6

5

0

0

0

1

4

4

6

85

5

3

0

1

0

2

3

4

4

Can't afford to

Had unexpected expenditure(s)

Not interested/not thought about …

Would lose out on benefits

Don't trust financial institutions

Don’t know how to save/ invest

Too late to start saving now

Don’t want to save

Don't need to save

Other


Fig 38. There are many reasons why people don’t save money. Can I just check, during the last 12 months, what were your

reasons for not saving?

Base: All those who do not save. No limiting/long term illness/disability

(12,868) Has limiting long-term illness/disability (6,139)Source: Wealth and Assets Survey


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Fig 43. When was the last time you saved any money in addition to money saved to meet regular bills? Source: Wealth and Assets Survey

Disabled people are also less likely to say they will save money in the next 12 months, 87% say they will not save, compared to 73% of non-disabled people, as illustrated in Figure 45.

Fig 44. Do you think it is likely that you will save any money in the next 12 months?


Base: All respondents who save (12,711) %

(6,040) %

Yes 27 13

No 73 87


Attitudes towards savings

In the survey, people were asked to say how much two statements about saving applied to them, on a scale from 1 to 5 where 1 means it applies strongly and 5 means it does not apply. The statements were:

59

11

7

5

18

50

11

6

5

29

In the last month

In the last 2 to 3 months



More than 12 months ago


When was the last time you saved any money in addition to money saved to meet regular bills? Source: Wealth and Assets Survey

Base: All those who have ever saved. No limiting/long term illness/disability (20,460)

Has limiting long-term illness/disability (6,364) Source: Wealth and Assets Survey


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“I can afford to save a bit of money every month”, and

“I always make sure I have money saved for a rainy day”

Figure 45 shows that 17% of people feel the statement “I can afford to save a bit of money every month” applies strongly while 31% feels that it does not apply at all, and 28% of disabled people feel the statement “I always make sure I have money saved for a rainy day” applies strongly while 23% feel that it does not apply at all.

Fig 45. Please say how much the following statements apply to you on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 means it applies strongly and 5 means it does not apply.

As we have observed for the findings around people’s financial situation, attitudes towards savings differ substantially by household income level. People in households with an income level below £17,500 are more likely to say that both statements do not apply at all, and those in household with incomes above £17,500 are more likely to say that both statements apply strongly.

The responses also vary by people’s assessment of their financial situation – 33% of those in a good financial situation say that “I can afford to save a bit of money every month” applies strongly while 68% of those in a bad financial situation say that this statement does not apply at all, and 53% of those in a good financial situation say that “I always make sure I have money saved for a rainy day” applies strongly while 62% of those in a bad financial situation say that this statement does not apply at all.

17

17

19

16

31

3.3

28

18

16

14

23

2.9

1 Applies strongly

2

3

4

5 Does not apply

Mean score

I can afford to save a bit of money every month

I always make sure I have money saved for a rainy day


Fig 6. Please say how much the following statements apply to you on a scale of 1 to 5 where

1 means it applies strongly and 5 means it does not apply.


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Pensions

Looking at disabled people’s pension provision when compared to non-disabled people, it is clear they are particularly vulnerable to not having enough money for retirement. This is an area of significant concern for disabled people, as Figure 46 shows, with six in ten (60%) saying they worry a lot about not having enough income to get by, compared to slightly more than four in ten (44%) of non-disabled people.

Fig 46. Thinking about retirement, how big of a worry is not having enough income to get by?

Disabled people are also more likely to think their income after retirement will not be enough to meet their needs. Over a third say it will not be enough to meet their needs (36%) compared to a quarter of non-disabled people (25%). While nearly six in ten (57%) say it will be just about enough to meet their needs.

44

36

15

5

1

0

60

23

11

4

3

0

A lot

Somewhat

A little

Not at all

Didn't work/NA [Spontaneous]

Don't know


Fig 39. Thinking about retirement, how big of a worry is not having enough

income to get by?


Has limiting long-term illness/disability (643) Source: Understanding Society


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Fig 47. Looking to the future, do you expect your income during retirement to be...

Looking at why disabled people are concerned over their pensions, Figure 48 shows that they are less likely to have other sources of income, outside the state pension, than non-disabled people. Only a quarter (24%) of disabled people say they expect to use an occupational or personal pension to provide money for retirement, compared to half (51%) of non-disabled people. Just 15% expect to use savings or investments, compared to 39% of non-disabled people. The picture is one of disabled people being far more reliant on state help through the state retirement pension (100% of disabled and non-disabled people expect to use this) and state benefits or tax credits (7% of disabled people expect to use this, compared to 5% of non-disabled people.

13

63

25

6

57

36

More than enough to meet your needs

Just about enough to meet your needs

Less than enough to meet your needs


Fig. 40 Looking to the future, do you expect your income during retirement to be... Source: Understanding Society


Has limiting long-term illness/disability (655)Source: Understanding Society


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Fig. 48 Which of these options do you expect to use to provide money for your retirement?

Insurance take up

In the survey, people were asked what types of insurance they had. Figure 49 shows that three-quarters of disabled people (76%) had home contents insurance, 61% had car insurance, 29% had life insurance, 27% had travel insurance, and small proportions had private medical insurance, personal accident insurance, or other types of insurance. Only one in seven people (14%) say they do not have any of the types of insurance listed.

51

39

22

17

12

9

6

5

24

15

9

7

5

3

4

7

State retirement pension, including State Second Pension (SERPS)

Occupational or personal pension, (including one from scheme not yet started)

Savings or investments

Downsizing/ moving to a less expensive home

Inheritance in the future

Earnings from part-time/ freelance work

Sell or rent another property (other than your main home)

Financial support from family/ partner.

State benefits/ tax credits (including Pension Credit)


Fig.41 Which of these options do you expect to use to provide money for your retirement? Source: Wealth and Assets Survey


Has limiting long-term illness/disability (10,792)

100%



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Fig 49. Which of the following, if any, do you have? Have you ever been turned down for any of the following types of insurance?

Insurance take-up varies considerably by respondent characteristics:

Almost a quarter of the people (23%) taking part in the face-to-face survey do not have any type of insurance compared with 12% of those responding to the survey online. In line with this finding, three in ten (31%) non-internet users have no insurance, compared with 12% of internet users;

The likelihood of having insurance increases with age; 43% of 15-34 year olds have no insurance, compared with 22% of 35-44 year olds, 14% of 45-64 year olds, and 3% of those aged over 65 years;

Around one in six (17%) non-working people do not have insurance, compared with 7% of workers;

Three in ten (30%) disabled people living in London have no type of insurance (which could be driven by the younger age profile of Londoners);

Having insurance is also linked to confidence around personal finances. Three in ten (30%) disabled people who are not confident in managing their personal finances have no insurance, compared with one in ten (11%) of those who are confident;

Around one in six people (17%) who have not received professional advice for personal finances have no insurance, compared with 6% of those who have received professional advice;

Around a quarter (23%) for whom someone else mainly has responsibility for paying the bills have no insurance, compared with 13% of those who mainly have responsibility themselves for paying the bills, and 10% of those who share responsibility;

76

61

29

27

10

9

3

2

14

1

1

2

2

1

1

1

92

Home contents insurance

Car insurance

Life insurance

Travel insurance

Private medical insurance

Personal accident insurance

Payment protection insurance

Personal equipment insurance for disability-specific

None of these

Insurance held Insurance turned down for

Fig 23. Which of the following, if any, do you have?

Have you ever been turned down for any of the following types of insurance?

Base: All disabled respondents who answer the question (1009)Source: Ipsos MORI


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Three in ten people (31%) with mental health problems, learning difficulties, and social or behavioural problems, 26% of those with memory impairments, and 19% of those with sight problems have no insurance.

People were also asked if they have ever been turned down for insurance. Figure 49 shows that just 8% say they have been turned down across all the types of insurance listed, with being turned down for life insurance and travel insurance more frequently mentioned than other types of insurance.

Disabled people who have been turned down for insurance were asked the reasons why they were turned down. Figure 51 shows that the most commonly reported reason was because of their impairment or pre-existing health condition - mentioned by 61% of people who had been turned down. This was followed by financial reasons (12%), and because of disability-specific adaptations made to home or care (10%)42.

Fig 50. For which of the following reasons, if any, were you turned down?

Perceptions of insurance costs

People with some form of insurance were asked whether they felt they paid more or less for their insurance because of their impairment or health condition. Two-thirds of people (65%) felt the amount they pay is no different to what they would pay if they did not have a disability or health condition, while 13% felt they paid a bit more, nine % felt they paid a lot more (Figure 25). Less than 1% of people felt that they paid less because of their impairment or health condition.

42

Please note that these findings should be interpreted with caution due to the small base size.

61

12

10

8

4

3

4

5

Because of my disability/pre-existing health condition

Financial reasons

Because of disability-specific adaptations made to home/car

Your age

Poor credit/insurance history

Lifestyle factors (eg smoking, drinking)

Other

None of these

Base: All respondents who have been turned down for insurance (79) Source: Ipsos MORI

Fig 24. For which of the following reasons, if any, were you turned down?


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Fig 51. Do you feel you pay more or less for your insurance because of your disability or health condition? I feel . . .?

There is some variation in perceptions by respondent characteristics:

Non-Internet users are less likely than internet users to feel they are paying more (10% compared with 23%).

People aged 35-44 years are most likely to feel that they are paying more (31% compared with 24% of under 35s and 20% of over 45s).

People who have received professional financial advice are more likely than those who have not received advice to feel that they are paying more (26% compared with 19%). This could perhaps be related to greater levels of awareness of insurance premiums.

Disabled people with chronic health conditions are most likely to feel they pay more (32%) followed by those with dexterity impairments (29%), those with learning difficulties or social or behavioural problems (28%), those with memory impairments or mental health problems (27%) and those with hearing impairments (26%).

9

13

65

Less than 1%

Less than 1%

3

I pay a lot more for my insurance

I pay a little more for my insurance

There is no difference

I pay a little less for my insurance

I pay a lot less for my insurance

Don't know

Source: Ipsos MORI

Fig 25. Do you feel you pay more or less for your insurance because of your disability or health

condition? I feel . . .?

Base: All respondents who have insurance (874)


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Independence, capability and

advice


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Independence, capability and advice

Summary

This chapter explores issues around financial independence and capability, and how in control of their finances disabled people are. It also looks at take up of professional and informal advice, where disabled people seek advice from and what for.

Key points are:

The majority of disabled people (84%) feel confident about managing their personal finances. Those who are not confident tend to be younger, have lower household income levels and more severe disabilities such as learning, memory, mental health or social and behavioural impairments.

Disabled people are slightly less likely than non-disabled people to say they run out of money before the end of the week or month all the time (12% versus 14%). When they do run out of money, they are more likely to cut back on spending or do without (48% compared to 41%) or borrow from friends or family (39% versus 36%).

One in three disabled people (32%) have received professional advice about their personal finances in the five years prior to the survey. Those in work and those describing themselves in a good financial situation were most likely to have sought professional advice.

There is a relatively high level of financial independence among the disabled people in the survey. Three-quarters (77%) say they are mainly responsible for financial matters (such as paying bills and managing day-to-day money), and just over one in ten (13%) say they share responsibility with a partner or family member. In line with this, only 3% say they get help with managing money from a support worker.

The most common reasons for receiving professional advice are to manage savings (34%), for general advice about money and finances (27%) or to plan for retirement (20%). One in seven people (14%) sought advice about coping with debt problems.

Advice is most commonly provided by Independent Financial Advisers (42%), or managers/ advisers from a bank or building society (38%). Use of publicly funded financial advice through organisations such as Citizens Advice or the Money Advice Service is low (9% and 5% respectively) and tends to be greatest among lower income groups.

The vast majority of people (89%) who received professional financial advice felt that the advice was very or fairly helpful.

The use of informal financial advice is widespread, with nearly two thirds (63%) of disabled people saying they have received informal advice in the last five years. Disabled people have mainly received informal advice from family members (32%), friends (17%), or newspapers and magazines (15%). Young people are more likely than average to seek this kind of help.

People seek informal financial advice most commonly for general advice about money (36%) and to manage savings (24%). One in five people (19%) seek informal


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financial advice for help with benefits or tax credits. This compares with only 7% who seek this type of information from professional financial advice.

Confidence managing money

The survey asked people how confident they felt in managing their personal finances. Figure 52 shows that one in three people (32%) say that are very confident about managing their personal finances, and a further 53% say they are fairly confident. One in six (15%) of disabled people say they are not confident about managing their personal finances.

Fig 52. Overall, how confident, if at all would you say you are in managing your personal finances?

Confidence in managing personal finances increases with age. Ninety three per cent of people aged over 65 years say they are confident, compared with 81% of those aged 45-64 years, 76% of those aged 35-44 years, and 71% of those aged under 35 years.

Disabled people who use the internet are more confident than non-internet users (85% compared with 77%). This is interesting given that internet users tend to have a younger age profile than non-internet users yet the findings for age show that older people are more confident than younger people. It is likely therefore, that other factors, such as life stage are having an impact on confidence.

People with no children in the household are more confident than those with children in the household (85% compared with 75%).


32%

53%

11%

4%

Very confident

Fairly confident

Not very confident

Not at all confident

Source: Ipsos MORI

Overall, how confident, if at all, would you say you are in managing your personal

finances?


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There is also some variation in confidence levels by region with disabled people in London, the South East and the West Midlands saying they are least likely to be confident (25%, 20% and 22% respectively).

It is not surprising that confidence increases with household income, and is strongly correlated with people’s perception of their financial situation – 96% of those who describe their financial situation as good are confident about managing their personal finances, whereas 45% of those who describe their financial situation as not good are not confident about managing their finances.

People who do not have responsibility for bills or managing day-to-day money are less confident (68%) than those who have sole (86%) or shared responsibility (89%).

People with memory (75%), mental health (72%) or learning, social and behavioural impairments (71%) are less likely than those with other types of impairments to be confident about managing their personal finances.

Financial capability

Taking confidence managing money further, we can look at the issue of financial capability to get a sense of how well disabled people are coping with finances. For the purposes of this report, we have chosen to use the following variables to assess financial capability, these are based on those used by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

Managing money – whether people are managing their own money and their confidence around financial issues.

Keeping track of finances – whether people run out of money before the end of the month.

Planning ahead – whether people expect to have enough money in retirement

Accessing financial advice – whether people have accessed professional advice about their financial products.

Managing money

People were asked who in the household is mainly responsible for making sure that household bills and other commitments got paid. They were also asked who was responsible for managing money on a day-to-day basis such as budgeting and planning for spending on items such as food/clothes/leisure activities and checking that they had enough money.

Three-quarters of people (77%) say that they are mainly responsible for making sure that household bills and other commitments got paid, while 13% said that someone else such as a partner or family member was mainly responsible, and 9% said they shared responsibility with a partner or someone else. These findings suggest that there is a fairly high level of personal financial control among respondents.


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Responsibility increases with age; those aged over 65 years are significantly more likely to be responsible for ensuring bills and commitments are paid compared with young people aged 15-34 years (82% versus 52%).

There is a similar distribution of responses for responsibility for day-to-day money management, with 78% of people reporting that they are mainly responsible, 10% saying that someone else is mainly responsible, and 11% reporting they share responsibility with their partner or someone else. Here, however, there was little variation by age group.

Help with managing money from a support worker is low with only three per cent saying they had a support worker. Younger disabled people were more likely than older age groups to have a support worker (14% for 15-34 year olds compared with 6% for 35-44 year olds). Disabled people with children in the household are also more likely to say they had a support worker to help manage money (8% compared with 2% of people without children in the household).

In terms of types of impairment, people with sight problems (6%), mental health problems (8%), learning difficulties or social and behavioural problems (9%) are most likely to have support workers.

Keeping track of finances

One way of measuring people’s ability to keep track of finances is to look at how often they run out of money before the end of the week or month. While this may indicate a lack of sufficient money, it is also an indication of people’s ability to plan and keep track of their finances to ensure the available budget for the week or month is stuck to. Figure 53 shows that disabled people are slightly less likely than those who are non-disabled to say they run out of money before the end of the week or month all the time, with 12% saying this compared to 14% of non-disabled people. Nearly three in ten (29%) say they run out of money sometimes, compared to 25% of non-disabled people.

Fig 53. And in the past 12 months, how often have you run out of money before the end of the week or month, would you say it was?

14

16

25

19

23

2

12

15

29

20

22

2

Always

Most of the time

Sometimes

Hardly ever

Never

Too hard to say/ varies too much to say [Spontaneous]


Fig 36. And in the past 12 months, how often have you run out of money before the end of the week or month, would you say it

was...?




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What people do when they run out of money is also an indicator of financial capability. When disabled people run out of money, they are more likely to cut back on spending or do without than non-disabled people, nearly half (48%) do this, compared to 41% of non-disabled people (Figure 55). They are also more likely to borrow from family and friends, with 39% opting for this over 36% of non-disabled people. Conversely, they are less likely to use an arranged or authorised overdraft than non-disabled people; fewer than one in five (18%) do this, compared to three in ten (31%) of non-disabled people.


Planning ahead

To assess people’s ability to plan ahead we can look at two variables: whether disabled people are able to save money, and if they expect to have enough money to meet their needs during retirement. As seen earlier in the report, disabled people are more likely than non-disabled people to say they cannot afford to save (85% give this as a reason for not saving compared to 79% of non-disabled people), and are also more likely to think their income after retirement will not be enough to meet their needs (36% compared to 25% of non-disabled people). Again this could indicate a lower level of financial capability amongst disabled people when compared to non-disabled, although is also likely to be an indicator of them being in receipt of lower incomes.

Accessing financial advice

According to figures from the Wealth and Assets Survey in 2006-7, a fifth (21%) of disabled people had received professional advice - significantly lower than the 29% of non-disabled

41

36

31

15

14

6

4

2

1

1

48

39

18

11

14

2

3

2

2

2

Cut back spending/do without

Borrow from family/friends

Use authorised/arranged overdraft

Use credit or store card(s)

Draw money out of savings or …

Do overtime/earn extra money

Use unauthorised overdraft

Depends on amount needed/varies …

Take out commercial loan

Use a pawn brokers or cash …



Base: All those who run out of money. No limiting/long term illness/disability (8,492)



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people who had. This disparity indicates that disabled people are less well served in this regard and raises the question of why disabled people are less likely to have received professional advice. The issues around accessing professional advice are discussed in more detail later in this chapter.

Fig 55. In the last five years, have you received any professional advice about planning your personal finances? By that I mean things like planning for retirement, tax planning, or investing money. But please do not include any advice related to running a business or mortgages.

Financial independence – who takes responsibility for financial matters?

People were asked about who in the household is mainly responsible for making sure that household bills and other commitments got paid. They were also asked who was responsible for managing money on a day-to-day basis such as budgeting and planning for spending on items such as food/clothes/leisure activities and checking that they had enough money.

Three-quarters of people (77%) say that they are mainly responsible for making sure that household bills and other commitments got paid, while 13% said that someone else such as a partner or family member was mainly responsible, and 9% said they shared responsibility with a partner or someone else. These findings suggest that there is a fairly high level of personal financial control among respondents.

Responsibility increases with age; those aged over 65 years are significantly more likely to be responsible for ensuring bills and commitments are paid compared with young people aged 15-34 years (82% versus 52%).

29

70

21

79

Yes

No


In the last five years, have you received any professional advice about planning your personal finances? By that I mean things like

planning for retirement, tax planning, or investing money. But please do not include any advice related to running a

business or mortgages.

Base: All respondents (asked 2006-2007 only). No limiting/long term

illness/disability (14,870) Has limiting long-term illness/disability (5,454Source: Wealth and Assets Survey


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There is a similar distribution of responses for responsibility for day-to-day money management, with 78% of people reporting that they are mainly responsible, 10% saying that someone else is mainly responsible, and 11% reporting they share responsibility with their partner or someone else. Here, however, there was little variation by age group.

Support worker to help manage money

Help with managing money from a support worker is low with only 3% saying they had a support worker. Younger disabled people were more likely than older age groups to have a support worker (14% for 15-34 year olds compared with 6% for 35-44 year olds). Disabled people with children in the household are also more likely to say they had a support worker to help manage money (8% compared with 2% of people without children in the household).

In terms of types of impairment, people with sight problems (6%), mental health problems (8%), learning difficulties or social and behavioural problems (9%) are most likely to have support workers.

Seeking financial advice - professional advice

As stated previously, one third of disabled people (32%) have received professional advice about their personal finances during the previous five years. When a similar question was asked in the Wealth and Assets Survey in 2006-7, 21% of disabled people had received professional advice, significantly lower than the 29% of non-disabled people who had. It should be noted, however, that the question asked in the Wealth and Assets Survey explicitly excluded advice relating to running a business and, crucially, mortgages. Whereas the question asked in the 2012 survey did not place restrictions on what the professional advice was about. This may account for the higher figure answering yes to 2012.

Fig 56. In the last five years, have you received any professional advice about planning your personal finances? By that I mean things like planning for retirement, tax planning, or investing money. But please do not include any advice related to running a business or mortgages.

29

70

21

79

Yes

No


In the last five years, have you received any professional advice about planning your personal finances? By that I mean things like

planning for retirement, tax planning, or investing money. But please do not include any advice related to running a

business or mortgages.

Base: All respondents (asked 2006-2007 only). No limiting/long term

illness/disability (14,870) Has limiting long-term illness/disability (5,454Source: Wealth and Assets Survey


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There is little variation by age, gender or household composition in terms of those seeking advice, although people in employment are more likely to receive professional advice than those not in employment (42% compared with 28%), and those in a good financial situation are more likely to have received professional advice than those in a poor financial situation (37% compared with 27%). We cannot establish causality but it may be that receiving professional advice contributes to a having a more positive financial situation.

Those who had received professional advice about their personal finances were asked about their reasons for doing so. Figure 10 shows that the most common reason for needing professional advice was to manage savings (34%), followed by general advice about money (27%), to plan for retirement (20%), for advice on stocks and shares (15%). One in seven people (14%) received advice to cope with debt problems.

Fig 57. Why did you need this professional advice?

There were some differences by age, reflecting people’s different life stages:

Disabled people under 35 years mainly sought general advice about money (32%), help with debt problems (26%) and to choose a new mortgage (24%);

Those aged 35-44 years are mostly likely to seek advice to help cope with debt problems (38%) and are more likely than others to have sought help with opening a new bank account (18%) and help with benefits or tax credits (15%);

People aged 45- 64 years are more likely than other groups to have sought help with planning for retirement (26%), in addition to seeking advice about managing savings (27%) and general advice (28%); and,

People aged over retirement age mainly sought help with managing savings (50%), while help with stocks and shares (21%) and help with will/inheritance issues (16%) were also important for this age group.

Base: All disabled respondents who have received professional advice about personal finances (321)

34

27

20

15

14

11

11

10

10

8

7

7

2

1

To manage savings

To get general advice about money

To plan for retirement

For advice on stocks/shares

To cope with debt problems

To choose a new mortgage

To help with will/inheritance issues

For advice on assets/property

For advice on tax

To open a new bank account

To help with benefits or tax credits

To manage direct payments or personal budgets

For advice on investments

For advice on annuities/life insurance

Source: Ipsos MORI

Fig 10. Why did you need this professional advice?


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Disabled people not in employment (41%) are more likely than those in employment (25%) to seek advice about managing savings. Those in employment are also more likely than those not in employment to seek advice on choosing a new mortgage (21% versus 5%) and those out of work are more likely to seek help with will/inheritance issues (14% versus 6% of those in work).

Around a half of people in a good financial situation (48%) sought advice about managing savings. In contrast, half of those in a poor financial situation (53%) sought advice to cope with debt problems. People in a good financial situation are significantly more likely than those in a poor situation to have sought advice about planning for retirement (23% versus 7%), stocks and shares (23% versus 2%), wills/inheritance issues (16% versus 5%), and assets/property (14% versus 2%). In contrast, those in a poor situation are much more likely than those in a good situation to have sought help with benefits or tax credits (13% versus 2%).

People with learning difficulties, social and behavioural problems, memory impairments or mental problems were more likely than people with other types of impairments to have sought advice on coping with debt problems, with more than 40% of these people seeking help with debts.

How is the advice perceived?

The professional advice people received was positively perceived; nine in ten (89%) felt it was helpful and among these, 56% said it was very helpful (Figure 58).

There is little variation in how the advice was perceived across the sub-groups, although people in a poor financial situation are less likely than average to say the advice is helpful (79% compared with 89%).

Fig 58. How helpful or unhelpful did you find the advice?

Where do people get their advice?

Fig 10. How helpful or unhelpful did you find the advice?

Base: All disabled respondents who have received professional advice about personal finances (321)

56%33%

7% 3%

Very helpfulFairly helpful

Fairly unhelpful

Neither helpful nor unhelpful

Source: Ipsos MORI


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The most commonly used sources of professional advice are Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) (42%) and managers or advisers at a bank or building society (38%) (Figure 60). Less commonly used sources included Citizens Advice Bureaux (CABs) (9%), accountants (6%), the Money Advice Service (5%), and mortgage advisers (5%).

Fig 59. Who did you receive this advice from?

The use of IFAs increases with age, from only 4% of 15-34 year olds to 56% among those aged over 65 years, while the use of CABs decreases with age, from 28% of 15-34 year olds to 3% of those aged over 65 years.

In line with the findings around who is most likely to seek professional advice, those in a good financial situation are much more likely than those in a poor situation to use IFAs and bank or building society staff (49% in a good financial situation used IFAs, and 44% used bank or building society staff, while the proportions for those in a poor financial situation are 29% and 22% respectively). A quarter of people (26%) in a poor financial situation used CABs and one in eight (12%) used the Money Advice Service, while fewer than one in twenty people in a good financial situation used either of these sources.

Consistent with earlier findings of those who need greatest support, disabled people with learning difficulties, social and behavioural problems, mental health problems or memory impairments are more likely than those with other impairments to use CABs and the Money Advice Service, and least likely to use IFAs.

These findings show that those who are more financially confident are likely to seek help from more commercial sources when it comes to finances. However, the CAB and the Money Advice Service play an important role in supporting people who are more vulnerable or lack in financial confidence.

42

38

9

6

5

5

4

4

3

2

1

1

Independent Financial Adviser

Manager or adviser at a bank or building society

Citizens Advice Bureau

Accountant

Money Advice Service

Mortgage adviser

Solicitor

Manager or adviser at an insurance company

Disability Support Organisation

Insurance Broker

Family

Trade union

Fig 12. Who did you receive this advice from?

Base: All disabled respondents who have received professional advice about personal finances (321) Source: Ipsos MORI


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Informal financial advice

Informal financial advice is widely used by people, approaching two thirds (63%) have received informal advice in the last five years with people getting advice most commonly from family members (32%), followed by friends (17%), newspapers or magazines (15%), websites excluding discussion boards (10%) and disability support organisation staff (9%).

Fig 60. In the last five years, have you received any informal advice from any of the following (please choose all that apply)?

Women are more likely to have received informal advice than men (67% compared to 59%) and younger people are much more likely to have taken informal advice (80% of 18-34 year olds, compared to 58% of those aged 65+).

Source of informal advice vary by age, with younger people relying more on family, web-based sources and carers and support workers, and less on newspapers or magazines.

Working people are more likely to have received informal advice than those out of work, particularly from family (42%, compared with 28% of non-working people), friends (24% versus 14%) and websites (17%, versus seven %). These findings suggest that people in work may have access to wider social networks (and are willing to use them) compared with those out of work.

People with children in the household are significantly more likely to have received financial advice from family than those without children in the household (52% and 30% respectively). Again, this may reflect the older age profile of households without children.

Disabled people in a poor financial situation are more likely than those in a good one to use family (40% versus 29%), disability support organisation staff (15% versus 5%) and carers or support workers (8% versus 2%), and less likely to use newspapers or magazines (7% versus 19%).

32

17

15

10

9

5

4

1

17

Family

Friends

Newspapers or magazines

Other websites

Disability support organisation staff

Carers or support workers

Online discussion boards

Bank/building society staff

None of these

Fig 13. In the last five years, have you received any informal advice from any of the following

(please choose all that apply)?



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Disabled people with mental health problems (42%) are most likely to receive informal financial advice from family members compared with the overall average of 32%.

The most commonly reported reason for seeking informal advice was to get general advice about money (36%), followed by help with managing savings (24%), help with benefits or tax credits (19%) and help with debt problems (11%).

Fig 61. Why did you need this informal advice?

The reasons for seeking informal advice vary by age, as they do for seeking formal advice, with younger people seeking advice about benefits and tax credits (23% for 15-34 year olds), help with debt problems (25%) and choosing a mortgage (18%), and older people (aged over 65 years) seeking advice about managing savings (31%) and will/inheritance issues (12%).

These findings show that disabled people seek general financial advice and advice about managing savings from both formal and informal sources, but are more likely to use informal sources for advice on benefits and tax credits, and more likely to use formal sources for advice on stocks and shares and planning for retirement. They also show that financial advice is a very important aspect in helping people to manage their money and cope with everyday financial issues. There are clear differences in who seeks professional and informal advice and the type of information that is sought from these different sources. Informal and publicly funded professional advice is more prevalent among the more vulnerable groups (such as people who lack financial confidence or who have more complex needs). This may be because these groups do not feel that professional commercial advice (such as IFAs) is available to them or they do not have the confidence to access it.

36

24

19

11

9

7

7

6

6

6

6

5

To get general advice about money

To manage savings

To help with benefits or tax credits

To cope with debt problems

To help with will/inheritance issues9

To plan for retirement

For advice on tax

For advice on assets/property

To manage direct payments or personal budgets

To open a new bank account

For advice on stocks/shares

To choose a new mortgage

Base: All disabled respondents who have received informal advice (609) Source: Ipsos MORI

Fig 14. Why did you need this informal advice?


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Appendix

Marked up questionnaire

Scope Financial Inclusion Topline Final– 10 September 2012

Data has been weighted for age, gender, working status and region

Figures are given in percentages except where responses to a question are less than 100, where figures are given in numbers

* indicates a number greater than 0.5 but less than 1 Q3 Overall, how confident, if at all would you say you are in managing your personal finances? SINGLE CODE Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

Very confident 32

Fairly confident 53

Not very confident 11

Not at all confident 4

Don’t know *

Q4 Overall, would you say your financial situation at the moment is.... Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

Very good 9

Fairly good 33

Neither good nor bad 37

Fairly bad 14

Very bad 7

Don’t know *


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Q5 Why do you say your financial situation is very/fairly good? Base: All disabled respondents who say their financial situation is very/fairly good (421)

%

Managing /ok with finances/can pay the bills/average 35

Have savings/investments 25

Live comfortably/have sufficient for my needs/no problems 18

Not in debt 15

Have a good pension/pension increases with inflation 9

No reason/because it is/that’s what I think 6

Have/partner has a job/working more hours/good wage 6

Just about managing/coping/live each day as it comes/nothing left over 4

Have some money but would like more/not enough for luxuries/holidays 2

Poor return on savings/low interest rates 1

I’m a pensioner/about to retire/retired/pensions are low/not in line with inflation 1

Not enough/lack of money/low income/hard to pay bills 1

Nothing has changed *

Relatives help out *

Cost of living/inflation/high prices/higher bills *

Having to use savings/cannot save *

In debt *

Other *

Don’t know 1

No answer 4


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Q5 Why do you say your financial situation is neither good nor bad? Base: All disabled respondents who say their financial situation is neither good nor bad (372)

%




Not in debt 8


Cost of living/inflation/high prices/higher bills 6




Live comfortably/have sufficient for my needs/no problems 4

Hard to live on benefits/no increase in benefits/benefit cuts 4

Having to use savings/cannot save 3

Unemployed, no full time work/less hours/job insecurity 3

Nothing has changed 3


In debt 2

Poor health 2

Have/partner has a job/working more hours/good wage 2

Economic situation/recession 1

Relatives help out *

Have a good pension/pension increases with inflation *

Other 2

Don’t know 1

No answer 4


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Q5 Why do you say your financial situation is fairly/very bad? Base: All disabled respondents who say their financial situation is fairly or very bad (214)

%



In debt 15

Unemployed, no full time work/less hours/job insecurity 14





Poor health 4

Not in debt 1





Have a good pension/pension increases with inflation 1


Other 4

Don’t know *

No answer 2


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Q6 Please say how much the following statements apply to you on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 means it applies strongly and 5 means it does not apply. I can afford to save a bit of money every month Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

1 Applies strongly 17

2 17

3 19

4 16

5 Does not apply 31

Don’t know *

Mean score 3.3

I always make sure I have money saved for a rainy day


%

1 Applies strongly 28

2 18

3 16

4 14

5 Does not apply 23

Don’t know *

Mean score 2.9

We would now like to ask you about any financial advice and guidance you may have received. Q8 In the last five years, have you received any professional advice about your personal finances? Professional advice means from a trained or qualified individual, not informal advice from family or friends. Base: All disabled respondents who answer the question (995)

%

Yes 32

No 66

Don’t know 1


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Q8b Why did you need this professional advice? Base: All disabled respondents who have received professional advice about personal finances (321)

%

To manage savings 34

To get general advice about money 27

To plan for retirement 20

For advice on stocks/shares 15

To cope with debt problems 14

To choose a new mortgage 11

To help with will/inheritance issues 11

For advice on assets/property 10

For advice on tax 10

To open a new bank account 8

To help with benefits or tax credits 7

To manage direct payments or personal budgets 7

For advice on investments 2

For advice on annuities/life insurance 1

Other 1

Don’t know 2

Q8c How helpful or unhelpful did you find the advice? Base: All disabled respondents who have received professional advice about personal finances (321)

%

Very helpful 56

Fairly helpful 33

Neither helpful nor unhelpful 7

Fairly unhelpful 3

Very unhelpful *


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Q8d Who did you receive this advice from? Base: All disabled respondents who have received professional advice about personal finances (321)

%

Independent Financial Adviser 42

Manager or adviser at a bank or building society 38

Citizens Advice Bureau 9

Accountant 6

Money Advice Service 5

Mortgage adviser 5

Solicitor 4

Manager or adviser at an insurance company 4

Disability Support Organisation 3

Insurance Broker 2

Family 1

Trade union 1

Other 5

Don’t know 1


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Q9 In the last five years, have you received any informal advice from any of the following (please choose all that apply)? Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

Family 32

Friends 17

Newspapers or magazines 15

Other websites 10

Disability support organisation staff 9

Carers or support workers 5

Online discussion boards 4

Bank/building society staff 1

GP/doctor/medical staff *

Citizens Advice Bureau *

Other 1

None of these 17

Don’t know 14

Refused 5

No answer *


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Q9b Why did you need this informal advice? Base: All disabled respondents who have received informal advice (609)

%

To get general advice about money 36

To manage savings 24

To help with benefits or tax credits 19

To cope with debt problems 11

To help with will/inheritance issues 9

To plan for retirement 7

For advice on tax To manage direct payments or personal budgets 7

For advice on assets/property 7

To manage direct payments or personal budgets 6

To open a new bank account 6

For advice on stocks/shares 6

To choose a new mortgage 5

Check savings/interest rates *

Other 2

None of these 1

Don’t know 4


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Now thinking about your day to day finances..... Q10 Overall, who is mainly responsible for making sure that household bills and other commitments get paid? By this we mean the person who makes sure it happens, not necessarily the person whose money it is. Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

Mainly you 77

Mainly your partner 9

You share responsibility equally with your partner 8

Mainly a family member 3

You share responsibility equally with someone else 1

Mainly your personal assistant or support worker *

Mainly someone else in the household *

Mainly someone at the council or local authority -

Mainly someone else outside of the household -

You share responsibility equally with your personal assistant or support worker

-

Nobody *

Don’t know *


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Q11 And who is mainly responsible for managing your money on a day to day basis? (That is budgeting and planning for spending on items such as food/clothes/leisure activities and checking that you have enough money). Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

Mainly you 78

You share responsibility equally with your partner 10

Mainly your partner 8

You share responsibility equally with someone else 1

Mainly a family member 1

Mainly someone else in the household *

Mainly your personal assistant or support worker *

Mainly someone else outside of the household *

You share responsibility equally with your personal assistant or support worker

*

Mainly someone at the council or local authority -

Nobody -

Don’t know *

I would now like to ask you some questions about banking Q12 In the last 12 months, how easy or difficult have you found it to physically access your bank or building society? Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

Very easy 47

Fairly easy 27

Neither easy nor difficult 12

Fairly difficult 8

Very difficult 4

Don’t know 1


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Q12b For which of the following reasons, if any, did you find it difficult to access your bank or building society? Base: All disabled respondents who find it difficult to physically access their bank/building society (125)

%

Difficulty with transport 37

Cost of getting to the bank 22

Anxiety/lack of confidence 18

Difficulty getting into buildings 17

Lack of appropriate facilities in the bank (e.g. lowered till, disabled toilet, somewhere to sit)

11

Difficulty using facilities 11

Staff not understanding your disability/health condition 9

Lack of help with communication 8

Too far to travel 7

Branch closed down 4

Immobility/poor health 4

Lack of accessible information 4

Lack of parking 4

Not providing a home visit 3

Poor opening hours 3

Staff not trusting you can make your own financial decisions 2

Disabled 1

Other difficulties 3

None of these 3

Don’t know 1


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Q13 And how long does it take you to get to your bank or building society? Base: All

disabled respondents (1009)

%

Under 10 minutes 24

Between 10 and 20 minutes 37



Between 45 minutes and 1 hour 3

Longer than an hour 2

We would now like to ask you about some different ways of banking and banking services Q14 Do you use online banking? Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

Online respondents

(800)

Face to face respondents

(209)

Yes 67 76 27

No 33 24 73


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Q14b In the last 12 months, have you experienced any of the following problems with online banking? Base: All disabled respondents who use online banking (663)

%

Internet connection being too slow 13

Difficulty remembering passwords 11

Concerns over safety/security 11

Difficulty using card readers 3

Not having regular access to the internet 3

Not being able to access internet in a private place 3

Website being too difficult to use 2

Unable to read the website text 1

Website down/crashing 1

Website not working with your audio software 1

RBS/NatWest computer crash 1

Bank errors *


None of these 67

Don’t know *

Q14c How interested, if at all, would you be in using online banking? Base: All disabled respondents who do not use online banking (346)

%

Very interested 2

Fairly interested 8

Not very interested 20

Not at all interested 68

Don’t know 1


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We would now like to ask you about mobile banking, which is banking (such as transferring money or checking a bank balance) that can be done using a mobile device such as a mobile phone. Q15 Do you use mobile banking? Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

Online respondents

(800)

Face to face respondents

(209)

Yes 12 13 7

No 88 87 93

Q15b In the last 12 months, have you experienced any of the following problems with mobile banking? Base: All disabled respondents who use mobile banking (108)

%

Internet connection on your mobile too slow/unreliable 20

Concerns over safety/security 10

Difficulty remembering passwords 9

Not being able to read the mobile text 4

Application being too difficult to use 6

Difficulty using card readers 3


None of these 63

Q15c How interested, if at all, would you be in using mobile banking? Base: All disabled respondents who do not use mobile banking (901)

%

Online (704)

Face-to-face (197)

Very interested 28 34 1

Fairly interested 13 15 5

Not very interested 13 13 14

Not at all interested 44 35 80

Don’t know 2 2 -


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Q16 How do you prefer to pay for everyday purchases, such as food, clothes or leisure activities? Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

With a debit card 46

With cash 32

With a cheque 1

I don’t have a preference 11

I do not pay for everyday purchases *

Other 9

Don’t know *

Q17 How much, if anything, would you say you know about Chip and Signature Cards? Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

A lot 10

A fair amount 33

A little 26

Heard of but know nothing about them 16

Nothing at all 15

Q17b There are two types of debit cards. A Chip and Signature card and a Chip and PIN card. A Chip and Signature card allows you to sign for purchases whereas a Chip and PIN card requires you to enter a PIN number. Would you prefer.......? Base: All disabled

respondents (1009)

%

A Chip and Signature Card 9

A Chip and PIN card 77

Neither 9

Don’t know 5


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Thank you. The next part of the survey asks about different types of financial products. We'd like to start by asking you about insurance. Q18 Which of the following, if any, do you have? Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

Home contents insurance 76

Car insurance 61

Life insurance 29

Travel insurance 27

Private medical insurance 10

Personal accident insurance 9

Payment protection insurance 3

Personal equipment insurance for disability specific equipment 2

None of these 14

Q19 Have you ever been turned down for any of the following types of insurance? Base:

All disabled respondents (1009)

%

Life insurance 2

Travel insurance 2

Home contents insurance 1

Private medical insurance 1

Personal equipment insurance for disability specific equipment 1

Payment protection insurance 1

Car insurance 1

Personal accident insurance *

None of these 92


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Q19b For which of the following reasons, if any, were you turned down? Base: All disabled respondents who have been turned down for insurance (79)

Number

Because of my disability/pre-existing health condition 47

Financial reasons 10

Because of disability-specific adaptations made to home/car 8

Your age 6

Poor credit/insurance history 3

Lifestyle factors (e.g. smoking, drinking) 2

Other 3

None of these 4

Don’t know 4

Q21 Do you feel you pay more or less for your insurance because of your disability or health condition? I feel..... Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

I pay a lot more for my insurance 9

I pay a little more for my insurance 13

There is no difference 65

I pay a little less for my insurance *

I pay a lot less for my insurance *

Don’t know 12

The next questions ask about forms of credit, such as credit cards and loans.


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Q22 Excluding any mortgages, do you (and your spouse/partner) currently owe money on any of the following…? Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

Credit card(s) 31

Loan from a bank, building society or commercial loan company 11

Mail order catalogue debt 9

Store card(s) 5

Student loan 4

Loan from a friend/relative 4

Household goods or car bought on hire purchase 4

Doorstep loan (This is usually a short-term unsecured cash loan that you can arrange at your doorstep)

2

Social Fund (This is help with one-off or emergency expenses, such as a funeral or a cost of a new baby)

2

Payday loan (This is a short- term loan that usually needs to be paid back when you next receive income from either employment or benefits).

1

Overdraft 1

Other types of debt 1

None of these 54


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Q23 Have you used a credit card or money from a loan for any of the following purposes in the past 12 months? Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

To pay for clothing for yourself 26

To pay for food 25

To pay for a holiday 18

To pay for an unexpected expense 17

To pay for leisure activities 14

To pay for clothing for other family members 11

To pay regular bills 10

To pay for home improvements (not relating to your disability/health condition) 7

To pay utility (gas/electricity/water) bills 5

To pay off another type of credit (loan, credit card) 4

To pay for a car 4

To pay for equipment/services related to my disability/health condition 3

To pay for study 2

To pay for home adaptations needed because of your disability/health condition 1

None of these 50

Don’t know *

Refused 1


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Q24 Have you ever wanted to apply for credit but felt unable to for any of these reasons Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

Yes, but worried about being turned down 10

Yes, but feel credit is too expensive 7

Yes, but worried about keeping up with repayments 6

Yes, but worried my disability/health condition would disqualify me 3

Yes, but not sure how to apply 1

Yes, but didn’t understand how much I would have to pay back in the end

1

Yes, but not sure where to apply *

Other *

None of these 52

No, never applied for credit 29

Q25 Have you been turned down for credit in the last 5 years (e.g. credit card, loan, store card)? Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

Yes 13

No 85

Don’t know 2

Refused *


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Q25b What kind of credit have you been turned down for? Base: All disabled respondents who have been turned down for credit (122)

%

Credit card(s) 66

Loan from a bank, building society or commercial loan company 30

Store card(s) 14

Payday loan (This is a short- term loan that usually needs to be paid back when you next receive income from either employment or benefits).

8

Mail order catalogue debt 7

Household goods or car bought on hire purchase 6

Social Fund (This is help with one-off or emergency expenses, such as a funeral or a cost of a new baby)

4

Doorstep loan (This is usually a short-term unsecured cash loan that you can arrange at your doorstep)

4

Loan from a friend/relative 3

Other types of debt 3

Overdraft 1

Student loan -

None of these -


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Q25c What, if anything, happened as a result of you being turned down for credit? Base: All disabled respondents who have been turned down for credit (122)

%

Had to borrow money from family or friends 26

Couldn't replace a domestic appliance (tv/fridge/oven/washing machine) 15

Missed payments on a bill 13

Had to apply for credit with a higher interest rate 11

Couldn't pay for other household expenditure (e.g. home improvements/repairs) 8

Unable to purchase equipment relating to your disability/health condition 4

Borrowed privately from an unlicensed moneylender/loan shark 4

Couldn't buy a car 4

Couldn't go on holiday/trip 3

Other 8

Nothing/none of these 44

Thank you. I'm now going to ask you some questions about your use of utilities such as gas and electricity. Q26 Do you feel you pay more or less for your utility bills (gas/electricity/water) than someone who does not have your disability or health condition? Base: All disabled respondents who answer the question (1009)

%

I pay a lot more for my utility bills 9

I pay a little more for my utility bills 9

My disability/health condition makes no difference 72

I pay a little less for my utility bills 2

I pay a lot less for my utility bills 1

Don’t know 7


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Q27 In the last 12 months, have you done any of the following to help pay your utility bills? Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

Restrict your use (by heating specific rooms or reusing water) 26

Cut back on other living expenses 20

Borrow money from friends or family 5

Use my overdraft 4

Pay using a credit card 3

Take out loans 1

Other 1

None of these 59

Q28 How easy or difficult is it for you to afford your utility bill payments? Base: All

disabled respondents (1009)

%

Very easy 13

Fairly easy 24

Neither easy nor difficult 38

Fairly difficult 18

Very difficult 5

Don’t know 1

We would now like to ask you about your financial situation in the future. Q29 Over the next two years, do you expect your financial situation to be ... Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

Better 13

Worse 36

Or about the same? 46

Don’t know 5


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Q29b Why do you expect your financial situation to be better? Base: All disabled respondents who expect their financial situation to be better (119)

%

Have more money/pay increase/legacy/equity 27

Have/partner has a job/returning to work/working more hours 22

No debt/paid of loans/credit cards 13

Living within my means/managing/not spending so much 10

Have/will be getting a good pension/index-linked pension 8


Possible change in circumstances 5


Improvement in health 3

Low inflation 3

I’m a pensioner/about to retire 2

No change in situation/circumstances 2

Increase in benefits 2

Lack of money/lower income/no wage increase 2

In debt/paying off loans/mortgage 1

Depends on the economic situation/recession 1

Things will get worse/worried about the future 1

Other 3

Don’t know 1

Refused 3

No answer 2


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Q29b Why do you expect your financial situation to be worse? Base: All disabled respondents who expect their financial situation to be worse (363)

%



I’m a pensioner/about to retire/retired/on low pension/pension not keeping up with inflation

15


Unemployed/no full time work/less hours/job insecurity 11


Poor/incompetent government/poor policies 4



Poor health 2

Possible change in circumstances 2




Have a fixed income 1



Have/partner has a job/returning to work/working more hours *

Other 2

Don’t know 1

Refused 3

No answer 3


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Q29b Why do you expect your financial situation to be about the same? Base: All disabled respondents who expect their financial situation to be about the same (463)

%


Have/will be getting a good pension/index-linked pension 10

Living within my means/managing/not spending so much 9


I’m a pensioner/about to retire/retired/on low pension/pension not keeping up with inflation

4

Have/partner has a job/returning to work/working more hours 4


Have a fixed income 3




Unemployed/no full time work/less hours/job insecurity 2


Poor health 2 Have more money/pay increase/legacy/equity

2



Low inflation 1



Possible change in circumstances *

Because of my age *

Poor/incompetent government/poor policies *

Improvement in health *

No debt/paid of loans/credit cards *

Poor/incompetent government/poor policies *

Improvement in health *

No debt/paid off loans/credit cards *


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Other 2

Don’t know 6

Refused 7

No answer 3

Finally, we would like to ask you some questions about yourself. The answers you give will help us analyse the results of the survey by different types of people. Q31 Do you currently receive a direct payment or personal budget? Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

Yes – direct payment 30

Yes – personal budget 2

No 68

Don’t know *

Q32 Do you have a support worker who helps you manage your money? Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

Yes 3

No 97

Q32b And how much would you say you trust your support worker to help you manage your money on your behalf Base: All disabled respondents who have a support worker (25)

Number

A lot 7

A fair amount 18

Not very much 3

Not at all -


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Q33 The Government is introducing a new benefits system, whereby current benefits and tax credits will be replaced by one single benefit, the Universal Credit. Before today how much, if anything, would you say you knew about the Universal Credit? Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

A lot 2

A fair amount 7

A little 19

Heard of but knew nothing about it 26

Nothing at all 45

Don’t know 1

F124 Which of the following benefits, if any, are you currently receiving? Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

Disability Living Allowance (DLA) 30

Council Tax Benefit 25

Housing Benefit 19

Incapacity Benefit (IB) 13

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) 10

Income Support (IS) 7

Tax Credits 6

Carer's Allowance 3

State pension 3

Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) 3

Attendance allowance 2

Pension credit 1

Maternity Allowance *

Bereavement benefits *

Child benefit *

Other 1

None of these 39


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Don’t know 1

Refused 1

Q30. Are you claiming any of the following types of state benefit? Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

Disability Living Allowance for an Adult? 22

Incapacity Benefit/Employment and Support Allowance? 16

Attendance Allowance? 4

Carer’s Allowance? 3

Severe Disablement Allowance? 3

Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (and related allowances)? 1

Disability Living Allowance for a Child? 1

Statutory Sick Pay? *

Other sickness and disability grants or allowances? 2

None of these 60

Don’t know *

Refused 1

Q32. Do you have any conditions or illnesses that affect you in any of the following areas? Please select all that apply. Base: All disabled respondents (1009)

%

Mobility (e.g. walking short distances or climbing stairs) 58

Long-term pain or discomfort 48

Stamina, breathing or fatigue 29

Chronic health (e.g. heart condition or cancer) 19

Dexterity (e.g. lifting and carrying objects, using a keyboard) 17

Mental health 17

Hearing (e.g. deafness or partial hearing) 15


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Memory 9

Sight (e.g. partial blindness or partial sight) 7

Social or behavioural (e.g. difficulty making friends or aggressive outbursts)

6

Learning, understanding or concentrating 5

Speaking (e.g. difficulty making yourself understood, or using special aids to help you communicate)

1

Intellectual difficulty or developmental delay (e.g. Down’s syndrome) *

Other 7

None of these 6

Don’t know *

Refused *

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