Over 90% of households worried about April price rises

With a typical household’s bills set to rise by nearly £1,300 a year from April, a study by Money Wellness, a wellbeing platform specialising in free debt advice and ongoing support, has revealed that 91% of British people are worried about covering these increases.

Furthermore, only 59% of the people Money Wellness spoke to said they have worked out how much more money they’d be paying and 60% of those said they were looking at shelling out at least another £100 a month. However, some 63% had already thought about how to cover rising costs, with over half planning to cut back on non-essential spending and 13% intending to work longer hours.

The majority of people Money Wellness talked to, said they had already made changes as a result of soaring inflation, with 15% reducing the amount they spend on their supermarket shop.

Ian Somerset, Chief Executive of Money Wellness said “The result of our survey is worrying. From next month, most people will be looking at paying more for council tax, energy and water, and some will also see the cost of their broadband and mobile phone contracts go up. A lot of families have made no provision for these increases at a time when some households budgets are already squeezed.”

“We believe that in the coming year, we will start to see families who have previously managed to stay on top of their payments fall into debt. Middle-income families will really feel the pinch with the added pressure of mortgage rate rises when fixed deals come to an end, alongside increasing childcare costs and less financial resistance.”

A quarter of people that Money Wellness surveyed said they were feeling stressed about money, with 17% revealing it’s affecting their mental health.

Somerset continued “The emotional stress of dealing with problem debt can be crippling with constant worries about paying bills on time, making ends meet and maintaining financial stability,” added Somerset.  “Getting help and support as soon as possible can help to end the cycle of worry as there’s always a solution. However, in a lot of cases people continue to struggle for more than a year before reaching out.”