Figures released by the ONS* today (Feb 16th) show that people in the UK spend more per week on chocolate and mobile phone charges than they would on life insurance.

Life insurance comparison website Compare Cover has analysed the latest Office of National Statistics Family Spending data and found that on average Brits spend more on takeaways, mobile phone subscriptions and pets than they would on insuring their lives.

It can cost as little as £5 a month** for life insurance, that’s around £1.25 per week, yet on average in 2015/16 the UK population spent £45.10 a week on restaurants and hotels, £3.40 a week on satellite subscriptions, £2.80 a week on cigarettes and £1.90 a week on chocolate.

Mike Preston, Business Development Director at Compare Cover, said: “Compare Cover is a life insurance comparison website so we decided to compare the average weekly spend for a UK family with the cost of life insurance. The results make really interesting reading – for instance, in the UK we spend nearly as much on takeaways per week (£4.70), as it could cost someone per month (£5**), to protect their family should the worst happen.

“At Compare Cover, we realise that talking about what financial provisions are in place should someone pass away isn’t the most attractive subject, but when you compare that we spend £1.40 per week on tea and coffee and that it would cost around the same to safeguard our families’ future, we think it’s an important subject to highlight.”

The ONS figures show that for the first time in a decade the spend on alcoholic drinks and tobacco dropped by a third to £11.40. £7.80 of that was on alcoholic drinks, of which 42% was on wine. £3.60 is spent per week on tobacco, with £2.80 of that being on cigarettes.

The average Brit also spends £7.00 per week on mobile phone charges, £4.60 per week on pets, 70 pence per week on going to the cinema and 80 pence per week on stationery.

Londoners spend the most per week at £652.40, while those in the North East spend the least at £423.50. Data from the three last financial years show that Scots spend the most on alcohol, paying out on average £8.90 a week, and that the smoking spend varies between the nations. England spends £2.90 on cigarettes per week, Wales pays out £3, Scotland spends £4.90 per week, while Northern Ireland pays out £6.60 per week on smoking.

-ENDS-

For more information, please contact Kathryn Chadwick at Front Door Communications on 07740 459171 or email kath@kcmr.co.uk.

Notes to editors:

*ONS - Family spending in the UK: financial year ending March 2016

**Based on a Compare Cover quote to insure a 30-year-old male non-smoker, for 25 years for £150,000.

Attached is a picture of Mike Preston, Comparecover.com’s Business Development Director.

About Compare Cover

As part of Investment Discounts Online Ltd, the Compare Cover team has been helping people with their insurance needs since 1999.

Compare Cover was established in its own right in 2016 as a new brand of Investment Discounts Online Ltd, to offer a specialist life insurance comparison service that would utilise all of their experience. The end offering saves time and money and provides information and tools to help make a more informed decision.

You can get in touch on 0800 915 2926, or by emailing customerservices@comparecover.com.

Compare Cover is an online life insurance comparison service. It provides simple comparison of different policies by a range of leading insurance providers.

Compare Cover receives a commission payment from the insurance provider for each policy sold through the site, but is committed to supporting the customer in finding the most appropriate policy for their needs at the best price.

Getting quotes is completely free.

Providers share the commission comparecover.com receives with the customer. This reduces the price of the policy and means that comparecover.com can offer lower prices than buying directly from a bank or insurer.

If customers receive a lower quotation for a policy elsewhere, comparecover.com will try to match it. The quotation must be for the exact same product from the same provider.

None of the information on this site should be taken as personal advice or as a recommendation that products will match financial needs. All Compare Cover’s insurance products are offered on a direct offer basis and it doesn’t offer advice on their suitability for the customer.