More than half (56%) of Brits would not know what they would cut back on if they could not earn their regular income through illness or injury.
Of those who did identify where savings would be made, most said they would cut back on eating out, takeaways and TV subscription services first.
The survey conducted by Opinium Research on behalf of Cirencester Friendly quizzed 2,000 UK adults last autumn with other areas most likely to be cut back being buying new clothes, gym memberships and smoking and drinking.
Around 3% of those who could identify savings said they would cut back on their heating first, indicating just how little room for manoeuvre some people have.
And the same number (3%) said they would cut back on holidays first, indicating perhaps that having a regular break has become perceived as a necessity rather than a luxury.
Alan Waddington, distribution director of Cirencester Friendly, (pictured) said: “It is worrying that so many people can’t identify anything they could cut back on if they couldn’t work for a month.
“It illustrates a significant number of families have no financial safety net to fall back on. Providing affordable income protection to cover the basics to ensure a few weeks of illness or injury doesn’t leave families with long-term debts is becoming more and more important.
“The same survey found that more than half of respondents would be interested in an affordable product that paid an income if they were unable to work due to illness or injury, rising to 74% among 18- to 34-year-olds. This shows the demand is there, especially amongst younger workers.“