With half the nation financially unprotected should the worst happen, the figures further highlight the protection gap in the UK, which is projected to stand at £2.4 trillion, according to new research from Barclays.
"People have a natural blindspot around life insurance that means they often don't want to think about it," said Rob Clarkson, general insurance and relationships director, Barclays Bank. "However, there are also some key events in their lives, like having children, which lead to taking out insurance."
The main reasons for not taking out insurance include not having dependants (25%), never having thought about it (23%) and believing it is not value for money (21%).
