Lose change all adds up

29th September, 2005

Brits collectively leave around £1 billion in change lying around their homes says new research.

This effectively wasted cash would better be put to use on a purchase such as home insurance, which will financially compensate homeowners in case something should happen.

If homeowners do have insurance, this money is often not included when calculating the house's value for home insurance purposes, so the cost of belongings can sometimes be underestimated.

Visa estimates that 18 to 24 year olds have on average £51 in cash stashed away at home.

One person in 14 admitted in the survey to having over £200 in loose change hoarded in places such as ashtrays, and down the back of sofas.

Visa said that if people were determined not to spend the cash, then they would be much better off investing it because consumers could be earning up to £50 in interest in a savings account.

'It's amazing to see how much change we keep lying around our homes and how we could be losing out on interest because of this,' said Greg Twitcher, Visa UK vice president.

 

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