Brits 'keep quiet' about loans for surgery

30/01/2008

Cosmetic surgery is one of the top motives behind taking out a secret loan, it has been revealed.

Research by Abbey Loans has found that of the 1.35 million unsecured personal loans taken out in secret by the British public, as many as 27,000 of them were to fund a cosmetic surgery procedure.

This figure equates to two per cent of the total clandestine borrowings, the firm reports.

Other reasons for taking out a covert loan included paying off existing debts, home improvements and medical reasons.

Some secretive borrowers lent the funds to a friend or used them to pay for a wedding.

Total value of the combined loans was estimated by the firm at around £7.7 billion, with an average value of £5,720 per loan.

People aged between 35 and 44 were revealed to be the most likely to keep quiet about their unsecured borrowings, with the 65-and-overs found to be least likely to hide loans.

Last year the firm found that 83 per cent of Brits planning cosmetic surgery were intending to have their treatment in the UK.

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