Insurance

The average UK adult believes they are worth £350,000, according to a recent survey from the Post Office, but 75% have no life cover in place.  

Those polled by the Post Office came up with an average figure of £350,000 when asked to consider everything they own or value in their life, including their home, car annual salary and all their possessions. Adults approaching, or already in, retirement valued themselves the most - £500,000 on average with those in their 60s valuing themselves at more than double that of those in their 20s and 30s.

However, the Post Office also revealed that almost 36 million adults (75%) in the UK have no life insurance. This is despite the fact that the cost of this type of cover has dropped by 70% over the last 30 years. More than a quarter of adults (28%) claim they cannot afford it though, while 18% feel their lives are not worth insuring.

Of those surveyed, 14% said they would take out life insurance once they have a child or buy their first home (13%) and 10% claimed they would take it out when they got married.

Duncan Caesar-Gordon, head of protection at Post Office, said: What is interesting is the calculation that people make when working out how much their life is worth. What people need to consider is a lump sum of money that will help their loved ones pay towards something like a mortgage, should the worst happen.

Thinking about the future and how the family will cope should the unexpected happen is a worry that can be easily avoided by taking out life insurance. With a typical cost of £10 per month, people would have peace of mind knowing that their loved ones are protected.