"Our research shows that by not planning for such an eventuality, parents are potentially leaving themselves and their families at risk of being in a desperate financial position."
- Justin Taurog, Managing Director of VitalityLife
Of those surveyed (2,000), 45% said they’d cut back on their car use if they were without an income for four to six months. Furthermore, 44% would either cut back or be unable to buy clothes, whilst four in ten (44%) would either have to cut back on holidays or go without them.
Although the majority of parents were confident they’d get by for a month if unable to work due to ill-health or injury, this percentage rapidly declined the longer they were unable to work. Only 54% were confident they’d get by for six to twelve months and 44% thought they’d be okay for a couple of years.
These findings are particularly concerning given that the majority of Vitality’s Income Protection (IP) claims continue beyond two years – illustrating the vulnerable position of parents who wouldn't be able to get by for that period of time (56%) without a protection policy.
Of those parents that didn’t have an IP policy, 44% said they didn’t think it was affordable, followed by no value (24%), and intending to purchase a policy (13%). Notably, 17% admitted to not knowing anything about IP despite having heard of it.
“Our research shows that by not planning for such an eventuality, parents are potentially leaving themselves and their families at risk of being in a desperate financial position. It also highlights the lack of understanding as to what IP is and the opportunity for us that bringing these products to life could offer, not just for us as an industry but in opening up protection to more people,” said Justin Taurog, Managing Director of VitalityLife.
