Brits `can improve their financial fitness`

Shopping around for the best finance deals can improve people`s money situations, an expert claims.

Head of Abbey mortgages Nici Audhlam-Gardiner said it takes a certain degree of discipline to improve "financial fitness", akin to the efforts it takes to get physically fit.

Efforts spent reviewing personal finance could make a real difference to the amounts paid out every year, she added.

According to research conducted by ICM for Abbey, 16 per cent of people have a balance on their credit card at their lender`s standard rate, while 21 per cent of home insurance customers renew policies without comparing quotes.

Ms Audhlam-Gardiner said people often found it easier to stay with their existing provider.

"By looking around and seeing where you can get a better deal, that`s something that can make quite a big difference to the amount of money you`re paying out each year," she concluded.

She also suggested that if reviewing personal finances seemed like a big job then people should do a bit at a time.