Brits lie to partners about true cost of purchases

A quarter of British adults (8.5 million) have chosen to 'Buy Now, Lie Later' in the last 12 months, hiding the real cost of purchases from their partners and family, according to a new survey from Halifax Home Insurance.

The home insurance provider found that these secret spenders played down the true cost of their purchases by an average of £772 over the last year. Altogether, this equates to a national deficit between the real price of purchases and the stated price of more than £6.5 billion.

While women were most likely to lie about the price of clothes and shoes, the survey confirmed that men mostly lied about the cost of electronic gadgets. Four out of every five women (80 per cent) who lied about the price of a purchase in the last year, did so about the price of clothes, while 41 per cent of the culprits lied about the price of shoes. Although 41 per cent of men lied about the price of 'boy's toys', such as a PlayStation 3 or an iPod, 33 per cent also hid the cost of clothing from their partners.

Half (51 per cent) admitted that they hid the real cost of their purchases because they did not want their significant other to think of them as careless with their money, but 34 per cent distorted the truth in the attempt to maintain an illusion of thriftyness.

Nearly two million Brits refused to admit the truth because they feared their partners' reactions, while one in ten were so embarrassed at their own spending that they lied to save face. A number of Britons attempted to deny altogether that they had made a purchase, until incriminating evidence such as receipts, price tags and credit card statements appeared.

"Men and women are divided when it comes to their secret spending," said Vicky Emmott, senior manager of underwriting at Halifax Home Insurance. "While women return from shopping trips pretending they have secured a bargain price for their Manolos and Jimmy Choos, men hide the price of stereos and plasma televisions."

Secret spenders risk being underinsured

It comes as no surprise that there is so much financial secrecy when Abbey Current Accounts reports that 7.5 million Brits keep an entire current account hidden from their partner.

However, people who lie about the cost of their purchases have more to worry about than just their partner's reaction. They also risk being underinsured on their contents insurance, which could become a significant problem if they ever need to make a claim on it.

Ms Emmott explained: "Because of this secret spending, householders could find the contents in their home are underinsured if the person responsible for organising the policy is unaware of the true cost of items in the property. Homeowners can seek to avoid this problem by purchasing unlimited contents insurance for their property. However, they will have to own up to the real cost of the items when claiming on their insurance policy."

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