13 April 2022
One in five women and one in seven men has suffered some form of financial abuse, typically at the hands of their partner* – and as a form of domestic abuse, it is as mentally scarring and destructive as any other kind of cruelty.
Menna Cule, financial planner at wealth manager Brewin Dolphin, explains there are different kinds of financial abuse:
“The first is coercive, controlling behaviour within a relationship when one person deliberately restricts access to, or solely controls all their partner’s finances leaving them with no money for basic essentials. This is often seen as part of a wider narrative of controlling and manipulating behaviour and according to Women’s Aid, there was a financial abuse element to nearly a third (31.9%) of those who have suffered from domestic abuse.
“The second is when one partner perilously restricts or risks their partner’s or family’s ability to financially look after itself through financially irresponsible behaviour such as reckless spending on addictions such as gambling, alcohol or shopping.
“Whilst the third is when the perpetrator is privy to someone’s private financial details and then uses it to exploit them and fraudulently gain access to their money.”
“Anyone can be at risk”, says Menna. “Because no one sets out to enter a relationship where financial abuse is the outcome.”
Tell-tale signs could range from the more overt warnings including being prevented from having your own bank cards, being discouraged from having a job that will provide a salary, being forced to have a joint bank account – with little to no access to it, money being restricted and only given as if it were pocket money and passwords to joint bank accounts being changed, to more subtle clues such as post and bank statements in particular being hidden, secretive behaviour and calls on the mobile to generally undermining someone’s confidence in their ability to manage money.
Menna’s advice for anyone who believes themselves to be in a potentially financially abuse situation is:
- Speak to someone. Once a fear is out in the open it can often feel easier to deal with. It could be a friend or family member, or an organisation such as Citizen’s Advice Bureau or Women’s Aid who will have dealt with these issues before.
- Aim to have access to your own money. Try to build up two to three months’ worth of savings as a safety net should you need to remove yourself from the household.
- Ensure that regardless of whose responsibility various aspects of the household finances are, keep fully abreast of how much money there is and where it is, even if it means regular household meetings. Educate yourself on your financial position both independently and as a family unit. There should be financial honesty in any partnership or family.
- If you do suspect your partner of being fiscally irresponsible, invite them to speak openly to you about what’s going on rather than being confrontational, because if they are in trouble, the situation could spiral. If you are too combative, they are likely to become defensive and potentially hide the problem even more.
Disclaimers
The value of investments can fall and you may get back less than you invested., Information contained in this document is believed to be reliable and accurate, but without further investigation cannot be warranted as to accuracy or completeness, Brewin Dolphin is authorised and regulated by the FCA (Financial Services Register reference number 124444)
*https://www.fca.org.uk/insight/hidden-harm-financial-abuse
PRESS INFORMATION For further information, please contact:
Richard Janes richard.janes@brewin.co.uk / Tel: +44 (0) 20 3201 3343
Siân Robertson: Sian.Robertson@brewin.co.uk / Tel: (0) 20 3201 3026
Payal Nair payal.nair@brewin.co.uk / Tel: +44 (0) 20 3201 3342
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Brewin Dolphin
Brewin Dolphin is a UK FTSE 250 provider of discretionary wealth management. With £59.0* billion in total funds, we offer award-winning, personalised wealth management services that meet the varied needs of our clients including individuals, charities and corporates.
Our services range from bespoke, discretionary investment management to retirement planning and tax-efficient investing. Our focus on discretionary investment management has led to significant growth in client funds and we now manage £52.0* billion on a discretionary basis.
Our intermediary business manages £19.0* billion of assets for over 1,700 advice firms either on a discretionary basis or via our Managed Portfolio Service, the MI Brewin Dolphin Voyager fund range and Sustainable MPS.
In line with the premium we place on personal relationships, we’ve built a network of 33 offices across the UK, Jersey and Republic of Ireland, staffed by qualified investment managers and financial planners. We are committed to the most exacting standards of client service, with long-term thinking and absolute focus on our clients’ needs at the core.
For more information, visit: www.brewin.co.uk
*as at 31st December 2021.
Brewin Dolphin is authorised and regulated by the FCA (Financial Services Register reference number 124444)