A YouGov survey of 2,010 people for Equifax found that 16% of Britons have taken out credit with no intention of paying it back, and half of those would consider repeating the behaviour.

Analysis of the research findings also reveals that the youngest generation are not the greatest culprits. 11% of 35-44 year olds have taken this action and would try to do it again compared to 5% of 18-25 year olds, the lowest percentage of all the age groups surveyed.

The results also showed that 10% of those in employment have taken out credit with no intention of paying any or all of it back, compared to 17% of unemployed people.

In total, 19% of people answered that they would consider taking out (or had taken out) credit with no intention of paying any or all of it back. 31% of these people said that this would most likely be (or had been) prompted by a difficult financial situation.

Of all those who said they have taken credit with no intention of paying it back, 9% – of which 12% were men and 5% were women – said they would not care about the consequences of paying it back.

Andrew Webb, head of Equifax Personal Solutions, is concerned that deliberate non-payers are not realising the long-term consequences of their actions.

He said: “Information about an individual’s payment history stays on their credit file for six years and if they have a pattern of non-payment this is likely to be viewed negatively by organisations in the future. The reality is that checks against credit information are made for even small financial commitments such as a mobile phone agreement.

“Deliberate defaulting could, therefore, impact someone’s day to day life, particularly as there is now even more focus on consumer indebtedness and affordability.”