The high street lender found that householders are often woefully unprepared for sometimes quite basic scenarios like calling out a plumber.

Just over a quarter of respondents to the A&L; survey have savings to cover household problems while one in five would need to borrow money to fund emergency repairs.

“It is pretty shocking to discover that so many people are adopting a ‘head in the sand’ approach to the possibility of having to fork out for unexpected household expenses, especially when almost a third admit to having struggled to pay for household emergencies in the past,” said Mike Woodward, manager for savings at Alliance & Leicester.

This comes amid growing concern that Britons are failing to heed warnings about the need to save for a rainy day.

To read more about credit cards, click here.

© Adfero Ltd