Life Insurance Statistics

The recent LIMRA survey brought up some interesting information in relation to life insurance and families. The 2016 LIMRA Survey found that nearly 5 million more US households have life insurance compared to 2010. That is great news and shows that more and more Americans are protecting their loved ones through life insurance. However, and there is always a but isn’t there… this is a result down to the increase in population and not an increase in market penetration. So the bad news is 30% of US households remain uninsured. To put some numbers to this figure, about 37 million American families are without life insurance and they would be at financial risk if something happened to the main wage earner.

Increase In the number of families with Life Insurance with children under 18

Since 2010 there has been an increase in the number of families with children under 18 taking out life cover. One in 5 households in this bracket are now uninsured. This represents a decrease on the 2010 figure of 3.7 million. According to the survey 73 % understand the need for life insurance and 62% sated they would be in immediate financial trouble. On the upside, according to the survey, 2/3 of people questioned stated that they would be likely to take out life insurance this year. With the advent of online quotation systems it is now easier to understand the cost of life cover and be prepared to obtain quotes from at least three providers to ensure that the best deal is obtained.

Amount insured is declining

The survey found that the in 2010 the average about of life insurance coverage was sufficient to replace the missing income for 3.5 years. In 2016 this had dropped to 3 years, which is far lower then industry recommendations. LIMRA estimate that the average life insurance coverage gap is $200,000. It is important to check the value of your current life insurance policy and ensure you top up with additional life coverage as your families needs change.

More details on the 2016 LIMRA survey can be found here. Life Insurance affects everyone and whilst it is not everybody’s top priority, it is somethings that needs to be considered carefully.