Millions risk leaving family in financial difficulty

Over 5 million people in the UK risk leaving their dependants in financial difficulty - and potentially facing debt problems - by failing to update their level of life insurance cover, according to new research by Sainsbury`s Life Insurance.

Sainsbury`s figures revealed that 60% of people with life insurance said they hadn`t updated their policy following a substantial change in their personal circumstances.

In other words, millions of people are leaving their dependants at risk of struggling with the cost of their financial responsibilities (such as mortgage repayments, childcare costs, etc.).

The most common changes to personal circumstances after taking out life insurance include changing jobs (3.58 million people) and having children (2.75 million).

David Cook, of Sainsbury`s Life Insurance, said: "Many people invest in life insurance when they buy their first home as they want peace of mind that they`re covered should anything happen and they`re unable to pay the mortgage. However, clearly people are overlooking the need to update their level of cover once their personal circumstances have changed."