8 Every-day Things That Cost More Than Life Insurance

Life insurance is a must-have for anyone looking to provide for their family and loved ones when they’re no longer around, but many people are wrongly put-off by the cost of monthly premiums and less than a third of people in the UK have a policy in place.
There’s a common misconception that you have to fork out some serious cash every month in order for your loved ones to receive a half-decent pay-out, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
How much does life insurance cost? Confused.com recently reported that you can get up to £100,000 of life insurance for as little as £4.58 a month*, and that got us thinking about the every-day things we buy that cost much more than that.
*Based on £100,000 level term cover over 20 years for a 30-year-old non-smoker with no pre-existing medical conditions.
What do we buy that costs more than life cover in the UK?
Here are just a few examples of the every-day things we buy that are more expensive than the monthly cost of cheap life insurance.
1. A daily (or even weekly) cup of coffee
The average British person pays £303 for coffee every year, that’s over five times as much as you might pay for an annual life insurance policy.
Buying one less coffee per week could free-up enough money to pay for life insurance cover worth £100,000 – we’d say that’s a pretty good swap.
2. A basic Netflix subscription
The cheapest Netflix subscription costs £5.99 a month and there are millions of users around the UK. We’re not telling you to cancel your Netflix subscription by any means, but try to put things in perspective when it comes to protecting the ones you love.
We pay almost six pounds a month for a few hours of entertainment a week, so why aren’t more of us prepared to pay as little as £4.58 a month to protect our families if ever the worst should happen?
3. One medium Big Mac meal
A medium Big Mac meal from McDonald’s costs £4.79 in the UK, which is more expensive than the cheapest life insurance packages available.
Refraining from splashing out on fast food and any other types of takeaways could leave you with enough money to pay for life insurance, and it might even lead to you having cheaper premiums as well.
Generally speaking, the healthier you are, the cheaper your life insurance will be, and there’s no doubt that cutting down on the cheeseburgers will help you maintain a healthier lifestyle.
4. A weekly lottery ticket
Depending on the type of ticket you buy, one lottery ticket a week could total anything between £4 and £10 a month on average, and the odds of you winning the jackpot are 1 in 45,057,474 (Lotto) and 1 in 139,838,160 (EuroMillions).
If you just so happen to win the lottery, you better write a will and get life insurance as soon as possible to protect your assets and your loved ones!
5. A cinema ticket
Cinema tickets cost, on average, £7.11 for filmgoers in the UK. Add to that the cost of popcorn, drinks and other overly-priced confectionaries and you’re paying the equivalent of two months’ worth of life insurance cover for a few hours at the cinema.
6. Cigarettes
People who stop smoking save around £128 every month, which amounts to more than £1,500 a year! Quitting smoking will help you improve your health and wellbeing, as well as your bank account, and you’re also more likely to get cheaper life insurance!
Note: Life insurance for smokers is notoriously more expensive, with those who smoke paying around 50% more than the equivalent non-smoker for the same level of cover.
7. Alcohol and nights out
Just one weekly pint of beer or any other alcoholic drink could amount to the same cost as a good life insurance policy.
Drinking less alcohol will help you make room in your budget for life insurance and you could also get cheaper premiums as it will help improve your overall health, which makes you less of a risk to insurance providers.
8. Bus and train tickets
Life insurance can be bought for less than what it costs to buy a return journey to your nearest city!
You might not be able to cut down on the amount you spend on travel, especially if you commute to work using a train or bus, but it’s worth understanding how much life insurance costs in relation to other every-day life expenses.
Choosing Unite Life insurance over non-necessities
We don’t hesitate when it comes to buying a Big Mac meal for £4.79 or when paying £5.99 a month for our Netflix subscription, so why are we so unwilling to pay £4.58 a month for a hundred thousand pounds’ worth of cover to financially support our family when they need it most?
Although you don’t get to see the life insurance pay-out yourself – unless you have critical illness cover – you are rewarded with peace of mind knowing that your loved ones will be provided for in the event of your death.
Get in touch with Unite Life today to get your life insurance quote or for a free, no-obligation chat about the options available to you. Our trained and friendly advisors will provide you with the information that you need to make an informed decision that best suits your requirements and needs.