Only 1 in 10 people rank having life insurance as a top priority when buying a home, research by TSB has found.
The survey of 2,000 adults revealed that most people believe furnishing the house (78%) and redecorating (76%) are the top priorities, while just 11% prioritise buying life protection.
Buying a house prompted less than a third of respondents (29%) to buy life protection, with more men (32%) purchasing cover than women (26%).
The survey also found:
- 81% think buying home insurance is a top priority when moving home
- 39% have life protection in place
- 32% believe protection policies are too expensive
- 31% don’t think they need life protection yet
- 15% don’t think they need protection at all.
Ian Ramsden, mortgage and protection director at TSB, said:
“It is vital that people have the right cover in place to provide comfort and reassurance for their family in difficult times.
“The research shows consumers are not aware of the impacts of being protected. Although its promising to see people think having protection in place is twice as important as having extra TV channels, it’s worrying to think it is only half as important to them as furnishing their new home.”
A similar survey by Santander revealed that less than a quarter (23%) of unmarried couples who jointly own a property would rely on their partner’s life insurance.
Mark Russell, head of marketing at Santander Insurance, said:
“Modern families come in all shapes and sizes nowadays and there has been a significant increase in the number of unmarried family units. However, unmarried couples tend to consider life insurance less than married couples.
“A good number of these family units include dependent children, which makes it all the more important that life and critical illness cover are in place.”
