Prepared for a split?
February 14, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Banking
It may be Valentine’s Day but nobody seems to have told the people at Alliance & Leicester.
The bank has today (February 14th) issued a warning to couples up and down the country, telling them not to get too carried away with their romantic feelings and take a bit of time to consider what could happen should they split up.
According to the bank, 87 per cent of couples are happy to make major joint purchases together, but just four per cent of these people have agreed what will happen to them following a split.
In addition to this, 50 per cent own a home together, while 56 per cent have joint debts. All of this, according to Alliance & Leicester, can lead to financial headaches and elongated heartache if the relationship begins to fizzle out.
“It is the tragic truth that the cost of splitting up can often last longer than the associated heartache,” said Richard Al-Dabbagh, senior personal loans manager at Alliance & Leicester, who admitted that discussing life without your current partner is “hardly romantic”.
“This research shows the huge amount of uncertainly that couples have as to who gets what,” continued Mr Al-Dabbagh.
“It seems that too many people are getting swept away in the moment and buying things jointly with no thought about what happens in the future. The financial implications of starting again after a split can be major.”
Alliance & Leicester says that the average cost of starting a new life following the end of a relationship is around £13,500.
Couples are advised to carefully consider their future finances and any difficulties that they may encounter should the worst happen.
