Thirty-nine percent of U.S. adults do not have life insurance, according to new survey results released today by InsuranceQuotes.com, a Bankrate (NYSE: RATE) company. And many of the 61% who do have life insurance appear to be underinsured and not as knowledgeable as they should be about their policies. These results, announced in conjunction with Life Insurance Awareness Month, suggest that a substantial number of Americans are inadequately prepared for critically important end-of-life issues.
The survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive among more than 2,000 U.S. adults.
Among those who lack life insurance, the most common explanation (45%) was "it costs too much." However, InsuranceQuotes.com found that more than two-thirds (68%) of the adults who have purchased life insurance policies on their own are paying under $100 per month and almost half (46%) are paying under $50 per month, so life insurance may be more affordable than many people fear.
The InsuranceQuotes.com research indicates that even those who already have life insurance could benefit from shopping around. Almost seven in 10 (68%) of those with life insurance reported that they have never changed life insurance providers and 64% said that they have held their current policy for more than five years. "Plenty of people who haven't compared prices in a while could potentially save money and get a better policy with just a little bit of effort, since many different insurers are aggressively competing for customers," said John Egan of InsuranceQuotes.com.
The most common level of coverage reported by those who have life insurance was between $25,001 and $100,000 (34%). Seventy-three percent of those with life insurance reported $250,000 or less in coverage.
Thirty percent of those with life insurance have a term life policy, 30% have a whole life policy and another 30% are "not at all sure." Egan said the type of coverage to purchase depends on individual circumstances, "but it's alarming that almost one in three of those who have life insurance can't answer such a basic question about their coverage."
The full survey results are available at www.insurancequotes.com/americans-life-insurance.
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