Life insurance in the UK is seen as a drag. No one gets excited about it, few people really give it much thought and the general thought is that if it is worth having then get it done and move on. There are still so many people in the UK who will quite happily spend 4 times their joint income on a mortgage knowing that the budget will be tight for the next few years who then think that life insurances just aren’t worth it.
Buying a house is a massive gamble. Without any insurances such as life insurance or mortgage protection you have to hope that over the next 25 years you will not die, you will not suffer a long term illness, you will not be made redundant and you will not be diagnosed with a critical illness. 25 years is a long time and at least one of these events could easily happen so insurances should be part of the mortgage budget, not an additional extra. Without the insurance option you risk losing your home. Who wants that?
The British attitude to insurance is wrong. Ok, which ever way you look at it insurance is a lose lose situation. If you do have to claim on your policy it’s because someone has suffered. If you never claim on your policy you’ve paid all of those premiums but never seen any benefit. Life insurances and mortgage protection should be seen as a back up plan, something to be proud of, something to show just how organized you are in your home ownership plan.
The American attitude to life insurances is very different. Americans seem to take pride in their life insurance plans. Life insurance is something they worry about. They want to make sure that the back up plan is there should it ben needed. Most of all Americans seem to be proud of their planning and talk about ensuring that their life insurance is up to date.
Could I be wrong on this? Please leave comments.
Sat, Jan 30, 2010
Life Insurance