More and more British people may need to consider an IVA or Debt Management Plan as Research has revealed that the average person only has about £2,000 saved up.

Reports from ING have claimed that as little as £40 has been put away during 2009 and that the average saving is £2,000.

This is just over one tenth of the £20,000 saved on average of the previous few years. However, the figures may be somewhat skewed due to the wealthiest five percent accounting for over one third of the total UK consumer savings. With this section of the country removed from statistics, the average only rises to £2,205.

The Telegraph was told by ING Group chief economist Mark Cliffe;

“meagre level of readily accessible savings that most people have.

“This leaves them with a very small buffer if they run into trouble,” .

The latest Nielsen-British Retail Consortium consumer confidence survey found that more people are choosing to pay off debts in the current economic environment, compared to those who plan to increase their savings.