Who should care when you don’t?

Thursday, January 28, 2010

In a recent study by Swiss Re, it found out that well under 50 percent of Britons have life insurance. According to their numbers, there is a vast difference between the amount to insure the whole of Britain and the amount of insurance that we as British people have. Currently, the insurance gap weighs in at £2.3 billion. While it definitely remains the case that these estimates are wildily exaggerated when taking into account how many people are uninsurable whether because of age or health restricitions, it is still a very low number. The real question here is why don’t we care?

The answer to this question more or less revolves arround ignorance. Not too many people really think about what exactly life insurance is and whether or not it is going to help their particular situation. Being honest, going out on a Saturday night is significantly preferable to spending free time preparing for your ultimate demise.

There is also a lot of resentment, often unfounded, towards the insurance industry as a whole. There are many individuals who are happy to generate industry damaging and very public smear campaigns. This being said, ultimately life insurance is possibly one of the most fail safe types of insurance there is. Putting it simply: when you die, your family gets paid.

That is not to say that the world of life insurance is completely without its pitfalls. However, with the onset of improved underwriting practices and regulations, the industry is getting significantly better. The premiums are continually getting cheaper and more flexible and with the help of both sides it is very likely that Britain will witness the insurance gap dramatically improving.


Rachel Winters