Umbrella company contractors should make sure they are not amongst the 43% of UK mortgage holders without life insurance cover.
Sainsbury’s Finance conducted a survey which discovered that about 7.1 million people have no life insurance, an increase of nearly 50% on the number in January 2006. The average outstanding balance on an unprotected loan is £44,000.
Contractors need to consider what would happen to their family if they were to die. Would the family be able to afford to make the mortgage repayments if the bread winner died without adequate insurance cover?
Figures from the charity Credit Action showed that, including mortgage borrowing, the average debt per UK household was £57,737 at the end of September.
Less people are now looking for to buy a house, according to the RICS. Enquiries from house seekers have dropped for the past 5 consecutive months and last month saw a 12% drop in interest, according to surveyors.
As well as demand falling, supply last month dropped for the first time since January. In September, 22% of surveyors reported an increased supply but by October 4% were saying the number of new instructions had declined. The decrease in both supply and demand resulted in October’s drop in house prices. On average, a surveyor sold 15.2 properties in October, the lowest amount since last June.
The average cost of a home in October was £164,919, according to the Halifax.
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