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Abusive partners are using money to control and trap their victims finds a new report from Citizens Advice.  

The research reveals perpetrators are leaving their partners without money, controlling their day-to-day spending and taking payday loans out in the victim’s name.

Citizens Advice’s pioneering new report, Controlling money, controlling lives, seeks to highlight how financial abuse often accompanies other forms of domestic abuse, such as physical violence.  It is published today to coincide with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (25 November). The report is based on a survey of advisers and reports from people who sought Citizens Advice’s help about financial abuse.

Of the advisers who had helped someone with financial abuse:

• Almost three-quarters had reported someone forced by their abuser to take out credit, such as a payday loan
• 43 per cent had seen cases of the abuser stealing from the victim
• Over half had reported perpetrators controlling access to the victim’s income, banking or savings
• 77 per cent reported victims being left to pay joint bills alone, including council tax and fuel debt

The report finds that most financial abuse cases Citizens Advice helps with involve current or former partners of victims. Nine in ten victims of financial abuse who came to Citizens Advice for help this year were women.

The new research from the national charity suggests that control of someone’s finances can often be an overlooked element of abusive relationships. People whose partner or relative restricts their financial independence do not always recognise that they are a victim of domestic abuse and often do not report it to others.

Financial institutions often fail to acknowledge financial abuse when it is reported and by ignoring it make the situation more difficult for victims. The charity is calling for Government departments, local authorities, banks and creditors to be more aware of financial abuse and have better guidance for staff to help victims.

Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, Gillian Guy, said:

“Financial abuse is an invisible crime in abusive relationships. Control over money is another weapon abusers use to hurt their victims.

“Recognising the abuse in a relationship is itself a tough challenge for victims. Getting out of an abusive relationship may be practically impossible for people whose abusers ensure they don’t have any access to money. Similarly the ties of joint finances or threat of severe debt is used by perpetrators to stop people cutting ties with their abuser.

“Authorities’ lack of awareness of financial abuse leaves victims at risk of further harm. The Government is right to have made tackling domestic abuse a top priority. Citizens Advice wants financial abuse to form part of this commitment. Ministers must ensure that abuse victims are able to get the support they need from legal aid and that family assistance like Child Benefit is not being misused by abusers. The FCA should look to provide guidance for banks and creditors dealing with financial abuse cases.”

A woman in her early twenties found her abusive ex-partner was continuing to take money out of their joint account, leaving her overdrawn. Even though she had taken out a legal injunction to stop her former partner contacting her, the bank told her that they would both need to be present for the account to be frozen.

Advisers reported that in some cases financial abuse victims were denied access to the legal aid they needed ensure the safety of them or their families.  One victim of financial abuse had her possessions destroyed by her husband and was also physically and emotionally abused. When she tried to get help from a solicitor she was told her case was not “extreme enough” to qualify for legal aid.

Without access to legal aid the costs of leaving abusive partners may be prohibitive to some victims, including those who have dependent children. Citizens Advice wants the Government to review the availability of legal aid in cases relating to financial abuse.

Citizens Advice

Notes to editors:

1. Citizens Advice conducted an online survey of 627 advisers for six weeks during August and September 2014. Responses to the survey were self-selecting.
2. Citizens Advice bureaux helped 19 men and 179 women with financial abuse problems between January and June 2014.
3. This year the Citizens Advice service celebrates its 75th anniversary. We’ve planned a year of activity running from January to December 2014. Contact the press office on 03000 231 080, or via email at press.office@citizensadvice.org.uk, to find out more.
4. The Citizens Advice service comprises a network of local bureaux, all of which are independent charities, the Citizens Advice consumer service and national charity Citizens Advice. Together we help people resolve their money, legal and other problems by providing information and advice and by influencing policymakers. For more see the Citizens Advice website.
5. The advice provided by the Citizens Advice service is free, independent, confidential, and impartial, and available to everyone regardless of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, age or nationality.
6. To find your local bureau in England and Wales, visit citizensadvice.org.uk. You can also get advice online at adviceguide.org.uk
7. You can get consumer advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 03454 04 05 06 or 03454 04 05 05 for Welsh language speakers
8. Citizens Advice Bureaux in England and Wales advised 2.1 million clients on 6.6 million problems from April 2012 to March 2013. For full 2012/2013 service statistics see our quarterly publication Advice trends
9. Citizens Advice service staff are supported by more than 22,000 trained volunteers, working at over 3,000 service outlets across England and Wales.