Vulnerability characteristics decrease since 2022

The Financial Conduct Authority published key findings from its Financial Lives May 2024 survey on 16 May 2025¹. The survey found that 26.4 million adults had characteristics of vulnerability in May 2024, or 49% of all UK adults, a decrease of 0.9 million since May 2022, when the figure was 52%, or 27.3 million¹.

Low financial resilience stood at 13.1 million in May 2024, or 24% of all UK adults, which the FCA describes as not statistically different from May 2022, when it was 24%, or 12.9 million¹. The number of adults holding a current account rose to 52.5 million, up from 50.8 million in 2022, with a corresponding fall in the unbanked population to 0.9 million, down from 1.1 million in 2022¹.

The survey also recorded a rise in problems among insurance policyholders: 16% reported experiencing problems, up from 12% in 2022, which the FCA attributes mainly to a higher number of policyholders saying their policy cost more than expected¹. Motor insurance had the highest switching rate in the last three years at 61%, up 9 percentage points from 52% in 2022¹.

Fieldwork for the survey took place between 5 February 2024 and 16 June 2024, with 17,950 adults participating and just under 45% completing it in May 2024, more than in any other month¹. The survey covers nearly 1,300 questions¹.

The FCA's Financial Lives Survey is described as its flagship survey of UK consumers, covering attitudes to managing money, product holdings and experiences of engaging with firms². The 2022 survey closed in May 2022 with 19,145 respondents². The FCA became responsible for the regulation of funeral plans in July 2022, following concerns about the conduct of some pre-paid funeral plan providers¹.

Why it matters for households

The headline measure of vulnerability covers adults with characteristics such as low financial resilience, low savings or difficulty keeping up with bills. The fall of 0.9 million between May 2022 and May 2024 means a smaller share of adults fell into that group, but at 49% it still covers close to half of all UK adults¹. Low financial resilience, at 24%, was unchanged over the same period, so the improvement in the broader vulnerability measure did not extend to that component¹.

For households holding insurance, the survey records more people reporting problems, driven mainly by policyholders saying their policy cost more than expected, and a higher motor insurance switching rate than in 2022¹. On banking access, the fall in the unbanked population to 0.9 million and the rise in current account holding to 52.5 million indicate more adults held a current account in May 2024 than two years earlier¹.

The FCA's regulation and policy work and its role as conduct regulator are set out in its guidance on what the FCA does for consumers.

What happens next

The FCA says it will make the 2024 survey data available through GeoDS by September 2025¹.