It doesn’t cost much in reality. In fact if you’re in good health and under 55 it’s actually great value. Life cover is arguably one of the cheaper insurance products on the market. But it has a boring image and perhaps for that reason, plus the willingness of the UK State to bail out people left behind by the financial loss of a breadwinner, many don’t bother taking it out.
Here’s some data from L&G;
Life is expensive at the best of times, so the idea of paying another bill might raise an eyebrow or two. But when it comes to life insurance, the real cost comes from kicking the can down the road.
You can get L&G Life Insurance from as little as £5 a month, though in 2024, the average cost of our Life Insurance was £27.95 per month.
How does the true cost of life insurance compare to the public’s expectations?
- Our respondents guessed that life insurance costs £79.50 per month on average – significantly higher than the reality.
- On average, men estimated that life insurance has a higher monthly cost (£92.08) than women (£67.57).
- Younger adults (25-34 years-old) gave the highest estimates on average (£97.96) of any age group.
Given these discrepancies, do we overestimate our life insurance knowledge?
PROTECTING A PARTNER
The researchers found that many younger adults without children may not be getting the financial cover they need. For example, these respondents were most likely to get life insurance in order to protect a partner (37%) ahead of funding their lifestyle following an illness (22%). While single or joint life insurance can be a great way to protect a partner, a payout can also be used to protect other financial dependants – from older parents to siblings who need financial support.
REGIONAL VARIATION
Across the cities we polled, people in Brighton were the most price conscious – 52% said that life insurance is “too expensive”.
And across the generations, 45 to 54 year-olds were the age group most likely (33%) to cite cost as a financial barrier to getting life insurance.
Meanwhile, when asked what would persuade them to buy life insurance, people were most likely to say ‘lower monthly cost’ (35%).
THE LEGAL REQUIRMENT FACTOR
Legal and General found that life insurance is often closely tied to property ownership – especially in London, where almost a quarter (23%) of respondents said that ‘buying a home’ was their trigger for taking out life insurance. ( It is generally a condition of obtaining a mortgage of course – Ed)
LIFE CHANGING EVENTS
According to L&G data from 2024, 6.5 million UK adults are delaying financial products like life insurance until they hit life’s traditional landmarks – from marriage to a mortgage.
But due to a range of factors including the cost of living crisis, we’re hitting these milestones later than ever – if at all:
- Is the ‘baby bust’ delaying our life insurance plans? In 2025, England and Wales’s fertility rate hit the lowest levels since records began in 1938.
- On average, buyers in England now get the keys to their first home at age 34.
- And we’re often taking our time to tie the knot. According to the ONS, the median age of a first marriage is around 31 and “has been steadily increasing since the 1960s”.
As millions of Britons push back their grand plans, are we leaving ourselves short when it comes to life insurance?
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