Women are consistently buying less life insurance than men.
Women in their 30s are insuring themselves for almost 33% less than men. Insurance provider Scottish Provident has revealed British women are risking their families’ financial future by undervaluing their life insurance.
Figures from the Royal London life office show women in their 30s routinely insure themselves for a third less than men of the same age. As women age this gap gets progressively wider, reaching a peak for women in their 60s. At this age, men have, on average, three times more life cover in place.
On the plus side, both men and women have increased the amounts they insure themselves for over the past year.
Jennifer Gilchrist, senior product development manager at Scottish Provident, said it was disappointing more women hadn’t taken out sufficient life insurance, particularly following the campaign to encourage women to buy protection before the EU gender directive deadline. The directive, enforced last December, pushed up premiums for women after ruling protection products couldn’t be priced differently according to gender.
What happens if I don’t have life insurance?
Life insurance is designed to cover the loss of income when someone dies. For a mother or father supporting a family this can be significant. If you die without life insurance your family could be forced into debt simply by paying funeral or medical costs. Of course this depends on the financial “cushion” you have built up in terms of savings etc.
Essentially, if there is someone who would suffer financially if you were to die, you need life cover. Outstanding debts, taxes, medical bills, funerals costs could all be covered by your life insurance policy, but only if you have one!
Jennifer added, “It is important that both men and women look to protect their families’ futures by making sure they take out sufficient cover to look after them. We may have succeeded in persuading more women to take out life assurance than before but these figures show they still don’t have enough.
“We need to consider how we reinforce these messages so that women truly understand their financial worth.”