Why are you insuring your pet but not yourself?
- Gregory Deer
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
In 2023, 4.4 million of us bought pet insurance in the UK. Only 1.5 million life insurance policies were sold in the same year (source: Association of British Insurers (ABI))
It’s shocking, but the strange thing is, I get it.
| Love of pets
I love our dog. I’ve experienced the impact losing a pet has on a family. I’m sure most pet owners are likely to have experienced more pets dying than close family members.
It’s a feeling we can relate to. We don’t want to be unable to afford care for our pets and go through something so painful.
That’s why we insure against it. We’ll happily part with £20 or £50 (or even more!) each month to protect ourselves from the risk of something going wrong with our pet.
| Why you don’t insure yourself
So, why don’t we insure ourselves like we do our pets? I have a theory…
We don’t want to consider the sudden death of a loved one.
It’s unimaginable. The loss. The sadness. The change to everyday life.
It’s just downright uncomfortable to think about… let alone talk about. Hopefully, we’ll never have to experience it up close.
It’s not that we don’t care. It’s just too difficult.
That’s why we often don’t address it until it’s too late.
| Uncomfortable now vs uncomfortable later
But, we must. You wouldn’t want your family to worry about money if you were to die.
In our family, we’ve seen it up close. Two cousins losing their husbands before age 40 to cancer. And, it’s awful.
One had a financial adviser and they had the difficult conversation and spent money on the potential problem. In turn, sufficient life insurance was in place to support her and her child during the difficult time and beyond.
The other wasn’t as well prepared. The financial stress compounding the emotional energy in an already difficult situation.
| Takeaways
You must consider how life would look if you or your partner passed away
Would careers continue?
How would the children be cared for?
Would you stay in your current home?
Based on this information, you can then establish the life insurance need against your current position.
For help with the conversation and to ensure your life insurance needs are met, book a call using the link below.
