Struggling consumers `slacking on vehicle safety`

Consumers who are struggling with their personal finances - potentially including those with debt problems - are failing to maintain their vehicles.

This is according to Gocompare.com, which found that nearly 30 per cent of UK motorists are putting off conducting repairs on their cars in order to save money.

It was also discovered that 17 per cent of road users have delayed replacing their worn-out tyres, while nearly six per cent have ignored problems with their brakes.

"Although I can understand motorists are trying desperately hard to save money, it`s really not worth the risk of neglecting essential repairs and maintenance when there are much safer ways of cutting down on your motoring costs," advised Hayley Parsons, chief executive officer of Gocompare.com.

As well as cutting back on vehicle maintenance, an increasing number of UK consumers see committing insurance fraud as acceptable, recent research found.

Conducted by RSA, the study indicated that in January 4.7 million Britons did not view such fraud as wrong, compared with 3.6 million nine months earlier.