Almost a fifth (18%) of Britons have not told family members they have a life insurance policy in place, according to research from GoCompare.
The results came after the comparison site surveyed 1,988 life insurance policyholders aged 49 and over asking whether their families were aware they had life insurance.
The research also found in total 15% of those with life insurance did not provide their relatives with the information they needed in order to claim.
Consequently, the comparison site extrapolated that 2.9 million life insurance policies were at risk of going to waste – equivalent it estimated to £230bn in unclaimed pay outs as the average term life insurance pay out value is £79,304.
The research also showed while almost two-thirds (64%) of life insurance holders have a last will and testament in place, only 29% said they have detailed their policy in their will.
More than a third (35%) of those with life insurance revealed their families do not know how to find their policy’s documents.
And just 3% of those who have taken out a new policy since the start of the pandemic did so because of Covid-19, according to the research.
GoCompare business development manager Richard Jones said: “Life insurance can be a financial lifeline for many families after losing a loved one, allowing them to pay off a long-standing mortgage or helping them to have a secure financial future, so it is worrying that our research found that so many policies could be left unclaimed.
“It is great to see how many people have bought life insurance, but it is useless if left unclaimed, and it seems that a staggering number of policies are at risk of just that, according to our research.
“To ensure that loved ones can claim, it’s important that policyholders tell family members about their insurance. By having these difficult conversations, they can rest assured that their relatives are aware of and able to access these important documents when the time comes.”