Britons owe billions in informal loans

Published on 25/06/2012 02:37

PEOPLE are owed more than £2.6 billion in IOUs from friends, family and colleagues, according to a new survey.

Research by O2 Money showed that almost half of adults lent money to someone last year.

One in two people who lent money were still waiting to get it back The average repayment time was a 60 days.

Cash was lent to people who said they didn’t have money on them or who had left a credit card at home. Lenders often didn’t like to ask for the money back because they felt awkward.

James Le Brocq, head of O2 Money, said: “Outstanding IOUs can be an expensive business.”