Women warned over lack of life insurance

More women than ever claim to be the main breadwinners in their household, but they are failing to protect themselves adequately should they be unable to work, new research has revealed.


As females throughout the world celebrate the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, research from Bright Grey reveals almost half of working women now describe themselves as the main earners in their family.

But despite the growing importance of the female wage in many households, the survey suggests thatwomen are less likely than men to have financial back-up should they be unable to work or even worse.

Over half of working women admitted that they have no life insurance cover in place, a product aimed at protecting their families financially in the event of their death.

Meanwhile, more than four in five female workers do not hold income protection products, and over three quarters admitted to not holding either a critical illness policy or private medical insurance.

"With women taking more financial decisions, it is vital that they do not leave out having adequate financial protection for themselves and their families when making their choices," said Roger Edwards, proposition director at Bright Grey.

"By buying a protection product that pays out if they are unable to work due to a serious illness or disability, women can ensure they protect both their household income and current lifestyle.

"It is crucial that women in the UK who are increasingly running their household finances are protected."

Whether you're male or female, protecting yourself and your family financially against any unforeseen circumstances should always be at the top of your list of priorities.

Arranginglife insurance is not as time consuming or expensive as you might think, with well known names such as NatWest Life offering competitively priced products.

Post Office Life Insurance starts from £5 a month, while applicants for cover from Tesco Life receive a free £50 gift card.

Online applicants for Barclays Life Insurance get a 10% discount as well as receiving a £15 Marks & Spencer voucher (once the third monthly payment has been made)

Buying a property is the top trigger for taking out protection such as life insurance

Getting on the property ladder is the top trigger for clients to take out protection, according to a survey of IFAs .

Scottish Provident's Financial Safety Net report questioned over 900 intermediaries and revealed that 92 per cent of IFAs said purchasing property was a major reason for taking out a new protection policy. The survey also found that having children, at 80 per cent, was the second most common trigger, while almost 57 per cent (three in five) say it is because their client simply wants peace of mind about the future.

Three quarters of IFAs (76 per cent) state life insurance is the most common policy clients ask about without being prompted, with just 10 per cent saying it was unemployment benefit, 9 per cent critical illness and only 5 per cent income protection .

Susan Barclay, head of marketing at Scottish Provident, said: "The research confirms that IFAs' clients are mainly prompted to take out protection products when they experience huge life changes such as buying a property or having children."

Ex-smokers should aim for cheaper life insurance

New research from Sainsburys Finance has revealed that ex-smokers in the UK, which amount to about 3.3 million people, are losing out big savings when taking out life insurance premiums . It was estimated that that ex-smokers are paying out GBP316 million more in total than necessary, due to them forgetting to inform their insurer about having given up on their habit.

Sainsbury’s Finance said that people who have managed to give up their smoking could save up to 46 per cent on their life insurance cover . The findings from the report revealed that the average smoker’s life insurance premium is GBP209.75 per year, as compared to GBP111.88 for a non-smoker, meaning that you can save as much as GBP95 on annual life cover if you qualify as a non-smoker.

For people to be allowed to put themselves down as a non-smoker on life insurance forms, they must have given up smoking at least a year before, as well as avoiding the use of nicotine replacement products since then, otherwise insurers will still charge them more.

Andrew Gray, life insurance product manager at Sainsbury’s Finance, commented "A huge number of people have quit smoking over the past few years and the health benefits of not smoking are now very well-known, although the financial gains are often underestimated."

Life insurance sell off hits profits at AXA

A sharp fall in profits at insurance giant AXA has been blamed on its sale of its life insurance division, AXA Sun Life, to Friends Provident last September. The insurer, which employs about 1,000 staff in the UK, announced underlying earnings of GBP131 million for 2010, down from the GBP235 million reported the previous year.

The GBP2.75 billion AXA Sun Life sell off was part of a restructuring programme, which resulted in four specialist units, personal insurance, commercial insurance, healthcare and wealth management, in an attempt to focus on the demands of both consumers and intermediaries .

AXA has also stated that it expects further rises in premiums for personal insurance products over this year as the market worked towards restoring profitability.

Paul Evans, group chief executive for AXA UK and Ireland, commented "Our priority for 2011 is to focus on delivering great service and valued products to consumers and businesses in those markets where AXA can leverage real competitive advantage."

French-owned AXA said that the operating ratio in 2010 was disappointing, but that greater improvements would come during this year as premium increases applied across personal lines in 2010 took effect. However, they recently warned there would be possible redundancies at their Ipswich office due to the separation of its commercial and personal lines operations.