Homeowners with dependents are not taking out life insurance due to “widespread myths” about cover, according to MoneySuperMarket.
A January survey of 2,000 adults from the price comparison site found two in five (40 per cent) with dependents were holding back from taking out life cover.
According to the research this was due to three reasons, two of which the price comparison site described as ‘myths’, including that cover was too expensive, and that insurers ‘never pay out’.
The price comparison site pointed out that the average monthly cost of life insurance per £100,000 of cover was £10.96.
According to MoneySuperMarket, this is a quarter of what homeowners spend on average for their monthly home entertainment (£45), including TV packages and subscriptions such as Netflix, Spotify and Amazon Prime.
| Age | Average monthly cost |
|---|---|
| 18-29 | £5.80 |
| 30-39 | £7.92 |
| 40-49 | £13.12 |
| 50-59 | £24.81 |
| 60+ | £43.46 |
| MoneySuperMarket data January to December 2020 | |
Figures from the Association of British Insurers and Group Risk Development also show a record 98.3 per cent of protection claims were paid out in 2019.
Neal Cross, life insurance expert at MoneySuperMarket, said: “What our research finds is that a number of myths have been circulating about life insurance for some time with the result that people have been discouraged from taking out cover.
“For many of us, life insurance isn’t expensive and will likely cost a fraction of what a typical household spends on their home entertainment subscriptions.”
chloe.cheung@ft.com
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