Families need more than just life insurance for protection

Many parents with dependent children are risking their family's future by not adding to their life insurance, according to a recent survey.

The research from Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) shows that over 70 per cent of parents with children who entirely rely on them financially do not have income protection, only 23 per cent do, and critical illness cover, just 27 per cent.

A decent number of parents with dependent children do have life insurance to cover their mortgage payments, 64 per cent, but the ones without the other forms of cover have not got any fallback to protect their other essential outgoings.

The main reasons given by parents to say why they do not have income protection or critical illness cover are that they are too expensive to set up and they are not necessary and so YBS are launching a drive to put their view forward that they are vital to have and affordable.

Andrew Watson, insurance product manager at Yorkshire Building Society commented: "We were surprised to find that such a high percentage of parents think they cannot afford to take out valuable cover to protect their families against the worst.

"It is shocking to think how little these policies cost in comparison to how important they are. Once you put it into perspective, it seems unbelievable, when cover could cost the amount of a family meal or a computer game, more families have not taken out a policy."

YBS says its life cover is available from £22 a month and income protection from £58 a month.