New report shows that most people haven't even thought about life insurance

Scottish Widows in its just published Scottish Widows Protection Report reveals the UK to be a nation that's dramatically under-prepared for the loss of a breadwinner's income through either death or illness.

Despite the trend of women wanting to move back to being 'stay at home' mums, the report reveals this just isn't possible for the over 10 million households in the UK who are dependent on two or more salaries to maintain an acceptable standard of living. What is more, when it comes to married couples, and the 44% of Brits with dependent children, the perceived need for two salaries increases.

The report also reveals that 57p out of every pound the average Briton takes home is now spent on essential expenditure. This includes mortgage repayments, managing debt, food, gas and electricity bills and council tax.

Meanwhile, almost five out of 10 (47%) Brits have a mortgage, 60% have secured or unsecured loans, overdrafts or finance agreements and 63% have credit card or store card debt.

The average household expenditure - including essentials and luxuries - is £1882.40 a month or 97% of our take home pay.

The bottom line is that based on the numbers above, if a breadwinner becomes long term ill or dies, the average household in the UK doesn't even have their essential expenditure covered, let alone enough money for those little luxuries.

The report concludes that the average British household needs to have enough protection to last eight years in case of a serious illness and twelve years in case of the death of a breadwinner. It also reveals we typically have £98,000 in life cover and £80,000 in protection against long term illness.

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