1.5 Million Households may not Have Enough Life Cover to pay off the Mortgage Warns Gocompare.com

NEWPORT, England, October 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

New research from comparison site Gocompare.com reveals that 1.5 million households may not have enough life cover to pay off their mortgage if either partner were to die.* 

The survey of 3,000 Brits highlighted the possibility that millions of people may well be leaving something sizeable for their loved ones if they were to die suddenly - a mortgage debt.  Only a quarter of UK adults say they have sufficient financial protection and savings to clear the mortgage and other debts and to provide an income for their family and dependent relatives, in the event of their death. 

Seventeen per cent of people surveyed admitted they were worried about the financial impact of their death on their family but, if they had an extra £10 a month to spend, the majority (65 per cent) would rather play the National Lottery than buy life insurance. 

The survey also revealed that cost (34 per cent) and apathy (25 per cent) are the main reasons people give for having insufficient cover, while nine per cent were unsure how to buy more cover.  In addition, 1 in 10 thought that they had left it too late to arrange adequate cover.

How much life cover can you buy for £10 a month?

    Age           Sum Insured   Term          Monthly Premium
    30            GBP175,000    30 years      GBP9.94
    40            GBP100,000    20 years      GBP9.49
    50            GBP55,000     10 years      GBP9.71

Source: Gocompare.com's life insurance comparison, level term insurance premiums based on the cheapest quote for a male non-smoker.

Jeremy Cryer, from Gocompare.com commented, "No one likes to think about their own mortality, which is why life insurance is a difficult product for many of us to consider.  But it is important to plan ahead and make sure loved ones are financially protected when we are no longer around to look after them.  It can be difficult working out how much cover you need, but as a basic rule of thumb, you should certainly be thinking about buying enough cover to clear any outstanding debts, including your mortgage, and providing a capital sum for your dependents.

Jeremy continued, "In the current competitive market, you can buy life insurance for as little as £10 a month - which for the vast majority of us will be a better investment than £10 gambled on the lottery.  And, even for older customers, a new policy doesn't necessarily mean sky-high premiums, prices have come down in recent years and its worth shopping around to see if you can find a competitive quote.  You should also periodically review your cover to take into account changes in your personal circumstances - if you change jobs, buy a new home, get married or have children for example - these things should trigger a review of your requirements to make sure that you leave your dependents an adequate financial safety net."       

Notes to Editors:

Research commissioned by Gocompare.com. Carried out with 3,000 UK adults in September 2011 by OnePoll Research

* Source - From our research; 10.1% of people answered "Yes" to the question "Would your life cover be sufficient to pay off your mortgage if either partner died?"  According to the Dept of Communities and Local Government there were 14.5 million homeowners in 2008 so 10.1% of homeowners would be 1.46 million households.

Gocompare.com launched in November 2006 to help people find the right insurance cover at the right price.  It was founded by Hayley Parsons who has worked her entire career in the insurance broking and aggregator markets and was the first comparison site to focus on displaying product features rather than just listing prices.  It was this philosophy that led to Gocompare.com becoming the first price comparison site to be invited to join the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) in May 2008 and helped force older comparison sites to change their 'quick quote' ways and stop using assumptions to calculate estimated figures.

Today, Gocompare.com provides one of the most comprehensive online car insurance comparison services in the UK as well as comparing home, pet, motorbike, van insurance and breakdown cover. 

Gocompare.com is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.