Who Lives Longer?

Friday, January 29, 2010

Statistics that cover the nation’s life expectancy numbers reveal that those living in the South of the country are expected to live for longer than those in the North. The raw statistics are as follows:

Life expectancy was 79.2 years for men living in the South-East and 83.1 years for women residing in the South-West. For those living in Scotland, the news is not as good. Having the lowest life expectancy at birth, Scotland’s male population’s expectancy is 75 years and for women, it is 79.9 years.

Since 1991, life expectancy across the country has increased and this is evident across every region. The most significant improvement can be seen in London, which has boasted an increase of nearly five years for men and 3.4 years for women. The regions that had the lowest expectancy increases were Scotland and Wales. In Scotland, the life expectancy for men increased by 3.5 years and in Wales, women had a life expectancy increase of 2.4 years.

Mirroring this trend, the life insurance providers are developing new policies. An example of this can be seen by the new life insurance products from Nationwide, who recently re-launched its life insurance cover for those over 55 years of age. This plan, the Over 55s Life Cover Plan, incorporates the new Increasing Cover option. Put simply, this new feature enables the policyholder to increase the lump sum which is paid out on death by 5 percent of the starting cash sum. This can be done each year. The monthly premium will then increase by 5% of the starting premium – again, each year.

In addition, this Over 55s Life Cover Plan from Nationwide offers its customers the Funeral Benefit Option. This new addition gives its policyholders the option to have the policy pay out a cash sum specifically to contribute to their funeral costs. The reason the provider has developed this policy is to ensure that its customers have peace-of-mind that their loved ones are both well-looked after and spared the worry of paying for a funeral during a time of bereavement.


Michael Junge