UK Domestic Abuse Referrals for Economic and Tech Coercion Rise 78 Percent

Referrals to a UK domestic-abuse charity’s specialist unit rose 78 percent in the year ending March 2026, driven by cases involving technology and financial control. The unit recorded 967 referrals between April 2025 and March 2026, compared with 542 the previous year. Cases that included some form of economic abuse more than doubled, from 198 to 414.

Economic abuse includes restricting access to money and bank accounts. It also covers situations in which victims are pressured into taking out loans or credit agreements. Charity staff reported a marked increase in cases where victims were coerced into car-finance contracts.

One woman said her former partner arranged a loan in her name for a vehicle he used, leaving her liable for an early-termination fee of about £11,000 after separation. Another woman said her former partner transferred a car into his name without her consent.

Police described the matter as civil and directed her to the finance provider. A third woman said dealership staff allowed a luxury-car lease worth more than £100,000 to be signed in her name despite observing her reluctance and arguments with her partner.

Separate research by Surviving Economic Abuse found that 36 percent of girls and young women aged 16 to 24 had experienced economic abuse in the past year, equating to an estimated 1.3 million people. The same study reported that nearly one in three girls aged 16 to 18 had faced such abuse, and almost one in five said it began within the first month of the relationship.

The charity called for a government working group that would include specialist services, car-finance providers, and credit-reference agencies to address the issue.