How much cash should I keep at home in the UK?

Around £100 in small notes is a sensible working figure for most UK households: enough for a few days of food, fuel and essentials if cards stop working. It is our standard, not an official rule. Only 17% of UK adults keep any emergency cash at home (LINK Cash Index, published May 2026).

The slightly longer answer

There is no official government figure for cash at home. The UK emergency kit guidance lists water, food and torches, not money, so households are left to judge. We use £100 in small notes as the working standard: enough to buy a few days of food, fuel and essentials if card payments stop.

The scale of the gap is striking: only 17% of UK adults keep any emergency cash at home, and in a major payment outage 54% say they would go out and withdraw cash, joining the queue, while just 36% could rely on cash already at home (LINK Cash Index, published May 2026). April 2025 showed what that looks like in practice, when Spain lost power and card payments failed widely, as reported at the time.

Make it fives and tens rather than twenties, because shops run short of change when tills go down, and keep it somewhere sensible rather than obvious. The full reasoning, including where to put it, is in how much cash to keep at home, and where.

One note on insurance: contents policies set limits and exclusions that vary by provider (Citizens Advice, checked 26 August 2026), and cover for cash at home is typically modest. Around £100 stays comfortably inside a normal policy; if you are tempted to keep much more, check your policy schedule first, and remember savings belong in an account, which is rung two of the ladder.

Why small notes rather than twenties?

When card machines and tills are down, change is the first thing shops run out of. Fives and tens spend at face value; a £20 note may be refused for a £3 loaf. Ten fivers and five tenners is a good mix, plus a few pound coins.

Do most people keep cash at home?

No. Only 17% of UK adults keep a store of emergency cash at home (LINK Cash Index, published May 2026), which means most households would be queueing at cash machines during a payment outage rather than shopping.

Is cash at home covered by home insurance?

Only up to a limit, which varies by policy. Citizens Advice notes contents policies carry upper limits and exclusions that differ between providers, so check your own schedule. Keeping around £100 makes the question academic.

What if cards are down for more than a few days?

£100 is a bridge, not a fortress. It covers the first days while payments are restored; a stocked cupboard covers the rest. That pairing, a few days of supplies plus small notes, handles the realistic version of almost every outage.

Sources & review

LINK Cash Index, LINK, published May 2026: 17% keep emergency cash at home, 54% would withdraw during an outage, 36% would rely on stored cash. Checked 26 August 2026.
Get prepared for emergencies, UK Government: the official emergency kit list, which does not include cash. Checked 26 August 2026.
Household contents insurance, Citizens Advice: policy limits and exclusions vary by provider. Checked 26 August 2026.

Reviewed by: TBC (money reviewer pending). Review date: 26 August 2026. This page describes official guidance and our own household standard; it is not financial advice.