It’s a funny thing, insurance. Some, like car insurance, we buy with no real resistance.
We may shop around on comparison sites and yes, third party insurance is compulsory, but most of us wouldn’t dream of not having “fully comp”. Especially if the car is relatively new. Most interestingly, it’s taken as read that there’s nothing to come back to you if you don’t claim during the insurance term.
So why is it then, that there’s such a huge resistance to life insurance often on the basis that “there’s nothing to come back at the end of the term”? Many of us seem perfectly willing to accept the huge financial damage that our families would suffer on our death in a way that we wouldn’t in relation to the financial damage that would ensue from the loss or serious damage to our car.
For many the premiums for a reasonable level of life assurance wouldn’t necessarily even be that much more than their car insurance premiums, and even if they were, the asset being insured (you) is so much more important than a car! Perhaps we need to be shown what the future would be like financially for our loved ones if we weren’t there to help. OK… a bit morbid, but if it helps to close the protection gap in this country who could say it wouldn’t be worth it?
Another way might be to offer some tax relief on pure protection policies. This would need some careful thought, especially in these relatively austere times, but we should be at least open to anything to make an impact on this important issue.
