Get yourself protected! It could happen to you, warns CIS

Statistics reveal that a staggering 47% of people in the UK are without any form of protection insurance*. Leading financial services provider Co-operative Insurance (CIS) is urging people to ëdig their heads out of the sandí and take immediate action to assess their protection needs in order to plug the ever-increasing protection gap.

Recent figures show that the protection gap in the UK currently stands at 2.3 trillion*. Millions of people remain acutely unaware of their real financial needs, which along with the demise of final salary pension schemes, is why the UK protection gap is continuing to leave people dangerously at risk.

The frightening fact is that one in three of us will be diagnosed with cancer at some point during our lives. This is one of the truly shocking statistics of modern life and one of the most memorable ñ so why do so many of us do nothing to protect ourselves, as well as our families in the event of such a tragedy?

Fiona Jackson, Head of Protection at Co-operative Insurance said: ìThe hard fact is that nearly half of the UK population do not have any form of life cover in place. It is clear that people have the attitude that it will never happen to them which nowadays is a big gamble to take. î

ìAlthough people may think that a serious illness or injury will never happen to them, for what could amount to the price of a pint of milk a day, a CIS critical illness or income protection policy will give families peace of mind and a tax free lump sum if the worst should happen.î

CIS experience shows that customers are best served through its network of qualified financial advisers. Particularly in the ISA market, CIS has found that personal advice has been a key determinant in encouraging previous non-savers to get into the savings habit, a process that can be replicated in the protection market.

CIS recommend that people should have at least 150,000 worth of cover in place for each dependent.