Many families rely on two incomes to meet their needs so would they be able to cope if one partner should die?
Yorkshire Building Society published research that showed that although two thirds of parents had life insurance to pay the mortgage off, if a partner were to die, only 23 per cent actually had adequate income protection cover to pay for day to day expenses.
Forty per cent of the parents surveyed felt that income protection was an extra expense that was unnecessary and too expensive.
Andrew Watson of Yorkshire BS said, “We were surprised to find such a high percentage of parents believe they cannot afford to protect their families against the worst.”
For people who are employed, they need to check if they are eligible for death in service benefits. This benefit will pay a lump sum that will be three to four times the annual salary.
If this is not available then income protection insurance policies can cover living costs.
Linda Tyson of broker Lifesearch said, “Income protection is one of the biggest priorities.”