AXA - Be Life Confident

• Consumer debt passes £1 trillion¹ but Brits still believe buying extended parts and service warranty on the car is more important than insuring family income
• More people insure the family pet (15%) than insure the family income (13%)
• More Brits have extended warranties on household goods such as washing machines and vacuum cleaners (28%) than have medical insurance (22%), critical illness cover (21%) or income protection (13%)

Despite consumer debt reaching more than £1 trillion¹, Britons still believe it is more important to buy an extended warranty on the car than to insure the family income, according to new research from AXA.

A staggering 13% of Britons believe that getting parts and service warranty on a car is a top priority, compared to just 3% believing that income protection is vital. Buying extended parts and service warranty for a car was also seen as more important than buying private health insurance (5%) or taking out critical illness cover (4%), even though 2.15 million Brits are now registered as long term sick².

"These are worrying figures which demonstrate the short term attitude that many people take to insuring their health and livelihood." states AXA Protection Marketing Manager Paul Bennett.

"UK household debt is at record levels yet our survey reveals that more people believe it is important to protect themselves from unexpected repair bills for their car, than believe it is important to protect their livelihoods in the event of an accident or ill health."

When asked what insurance cover they have actually invested in themselves, more than one in three British adults (38%) say they have got travel insurance and 28% have paid for extended warranties on household goods such as washing machines and vacuum cleaners. However just 22% said they have private medical insurance with 21% saying they have critical illness cover and a mere 13% saying they have income protection insurance. Even protecting the family pet (15%) was more common than protecting the family income.

Conversely protecting dependents is seen as important with 56% of Brits saying they have life insurance cover.

"While it is encouraging to see that Brits are planning ahead to protect dependants through life insurance cover in the event of death, there are a great many other risks that face us and our families - as consumer debt continues to rise, it becomes increasingly important to cover family income, mortgage payments and health," concludes Paul Bennett. "A third of people say they have payment protection cover on specific loans or debts, but this is only short term cover on isolated commitments and could prove to be merely a drop in the ocean if they become unable to work and lose their income."

"We strongly encourage people to review their insurance portfolio and ensure they are able to maintain their standard of living in the event of losing an income or being unable to work - while none of us wants to dwell on these aspects of life, they are unfortunately a reality for many people."

AXA recently launched its Protection Account, providing a comprehensive range of home, personal, life and income protection policies in a menu-based account. The AXA Protection Account is designed to provide flexible protection for life, enabling covers to be added, removed or amended as people's needs change over time.

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