AIB survey estimates Irish adults lose €150 a year over shared bills and unclaimed debts

AIB-backed research reported in Ireland on 12 October 2026 estimates that adults lose €150 a year on average by overpaying shared bills or leaving personal debts uncollected. The bank also puts the annual total for Irish consumers at about €600 million. Both figures are estimates from commissioned research, rather than independently measured losses.

The survey covered 1,009 adults in Ireland and was conducted by Bounce Insights on behalf of AIB and Ogilvy, according to The Irish Times. RTÉ reported that its release accompanied the launch of AIB's Everyday Banking campaign, Built For Life. That commercial setting matters when reading the figures: the research describes respondents' answers, while the available reports do not set out the calculation behind the headline annual cost.

What the AIB survey says about money owed

Only 4% of respondents said they would always ask for money owed to them, whatever the amount, RTÉ reported. The Irish Times said up to 90% would let as much as €50 go rather than have a difficult conversation. Those findings indicate reluctance to raise relatively small debts, although the reports do not show how often each respondent faced such a situation during a year.

Respondents had an average of more than €100 in debts they had not pursued with friends, family or colleagues, according to RTÉ. That figure describes money reportedly outstanding at the time of the survey; it should not be treated as a separate annual loss or simply added to the €150 estimate. The reports do not provide enough methodological detail to make that conversion.

How shared bills contribute to the estimate

RTÉ said 46% of respondents regularly overpaid on shared bills or rounded up to keep the peace. Among people aged 25 to 34, the reported share was 74%, the highest pressure identified by the survey. Overpayers outnumbered underpayers by two to one, while four in ten respondents said they had never paid less than their fair share.

Two-thirds of respondents felt uncomfortable when someone suggested itemising a group bill, RTÉ reported. The figure helps explain the setting in which an even split or a rounded-up contribution can leave someone paying more than their own share. It does not show the cost of any particular meal or establish that everyone who felt uncomfortable went on to overpay.

The Irish Times reported differences in the amounts respondents said they would tolerate before asking for money back: €32.50 in Galway, compared with €12.50 in Wexford. It also reported that Limerick respondents were most likely to favour itemised bills, while Dublin respondents preferred an even split. These county comparisons describe survey responses; the reports do not provide county sample sizes with which to judge their precision.

Why the €150 figure needs attribution

Ogilvy Consulting behavioural scientist Dan Bennett called the cost of staying silent about money a ‘Politeness Premium’, according to both reports. He said people often frame that silence as generosity. The label captures the survey's proposed explanation for overpayments and unclaimed debts, but it is not an independently established charge appearing on a bill or bank statement.

AIB Chief Customer Officer Orlaith Ryan linked the research to social friction around everyday finances and to the bank's campaign. RTÉ quoted her describing the AIB Mobile App, its AI support tool Abi, and branch and phone support. The reports establish that these services were promoted alongside the survey; they do not establish that using them reduces the estimated €150 annual loss.

Neither report provides the questionnaire, fieldwork dates, sampling design, weighting or margin of error. Nor does the available reporting explain how AIB moved from responses about debts and bill splitting to its €150 per-person and €600 million national estimates. Readers can assess the reported responses as survey findings, but cannot independently check the annual totals from the published detail. No further timetable beyond the campaign launch is specified in the reports.