Half of UK adults have no life cover

More than half (54 per cent) of adults in the UK do not have life insurance, despite two-thirds of those surveyed also having dependants, according to new research from Barclays.

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.

"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 per cent), never having thought about it (23 per cent) and believing it is not value for money (21 per cent).

To reduce the protection gap, Barclays has relaunched the Simplified Life insurance product to provide customers with affordable and reliable cover.

"Life insurance can be really valuable but many people are put off by the thought of it being expensive or complicated," continues Rob Clarkson. "We've taken those barriers away and made it really easy to get you and your family covered by offering a competitive and reliable product that is simple to understand and easy to buy."

Barclays Simplified Life Insurance is a comprehensive insurance policy with a number of additional features:

Simple, great value life insurance from Aviva pays a lump sum of up to £500,000

10% discount when you buy online - obtain a quick quote in just two minutes

Choose either level term or decreasing term cover

Monthly premiums from only £5 a month, which is just 17p per day

35-year-old non-smoking woman could pay £14 a month for £250,000 of level term cover for 25 years

Your monthly premiums stay the same throughout the life insurance policy term

The Simplified Life Insurance product can be accessed through one of the Barclays branch networks, telephone banking and via barclays.com.