£41 billion of debt is being hidden by people in relationships from their partners, it has been claimed.

A new report from The Co-operative Bank found that 62% of people in relationships have individual debts in the form of credit cards, overdrafts, loans and mortgages and 13% have not disclosed this to their partner.

The research, which is the third in a series of reports by the Bank on ‘Modern Families and Households’, shows that the average debt that individuals in relationships admit to have totals £17,112. Men admit to being £14,228 in the red, however on average women’s debt levels are markedly higher, with females admitting to having £22,418 of debt.

“These findings show that there is a huge amount of money that couples are hiding from each other,” said Christina Blacklaws, director of family law at The Co-operative Legal Services.

“Many people facing relationship breakdown may be shocked to find out that they may have responsibility for their ex-partner’s debts, even if they were not aware of them, or may not have any rights to assets or property which they themselves may have invested into. Even if your partner dies, debts may well be passed on to you as an individual or to the estate.

“Legally speaking if a married couple decide to divorce they have to disclose all of their money and assets as part of the process to the Courts, if a pre nuptial agreement has not been agreed. Therefore any hidden cash should not remain secret, and there can be severe consequences should these not be made known.

“Unmarried couples do not have the same rights as married couples, therefore it is important that people who are in this situation know exactly what their rights and responsibilities are. For instance, there are more couples who are drawing up agreements regarding their finances when they move in together nowadays.”