New research from Virgin Money has revealed that millions of Brits may find themselves unable to pay their protection insurance premiums this year.
Around 15 percent of Brits are "very unconfident" about meeting their protection insurance payments this year, according to a new Virgin Money study.
In addition, five percent said they were "unconfident" about covering the bills, making a total of 7,623,000 who may be unable to keep up payments.
This finding could become increasingly problematic, with the survey also finding that nearly a third of UK adults expect to have less disposable income over the next year, either through a reduction in salary or higher household costs.
The figures were part of the Virgin Money Financial Outlook index, which aims to track consumers' financial standing by tracking whether they can keep up with a number of outgoings, including luxuries and savings, as well as insurance. In total, one in ten said they would have trouble keeping up with "essentials", such as mortgages and insurance.
Rob Clifford, Virgin Money UK managing director said: "The economic outlook may look bleak and consumers are now familiar with harbingers of doom on a daily basis. But there is hope - for every person worrying about paying essential bills, there are nine others confident of doing just that in this country."
Just how long the UK's recession will last has been the matter of some debate, with the Confederation of British Industry revising its own figure this week to predict a 3.3 percent contraction in GDP by the end of the year, with recovery beginning in 2010.
