Women tend to be less "financially fit" than their male counterparts, it has been claimed.

Nici Audhlam-Gardiner, head of mortgages at Abbey, has stated that on average, women are less likely than men to hunt out the best deals on financial products or to make savings.

She highlighted that 70 per cent of women do not have sufficient savings for more than three months, meaning they could not fall back on savings in an emergency.

There has been a trend for people to spend more then they earn, however, with the possibility of a recession looming, an increasing number of people are considering sorting out their finances, Ms Audhlam-Gardiner noted.

A recent Abbey survey rated consumers’ financial "fitness" based upon the financial products they use and how often they compare them and look for better deals.

It discovered that a third of women do not have the most competitive mortgage on offer to them and a quarter do not shop around to find the best insurance premium.