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Soaring living costs highlight the need for life insurance

16 November 2012

The rising cost of living is continuing to put a squeeze on consumers’ budgets, meaning that the need for households to protect their financial futures is more crucial than ever.

To ensure that your financial future is protected, life insurance can be a useful policy. You can compare life insurance with MoneyExpert.

Research commissioned by Skipton Financial Services has revealed that the average British family needs to bring in £24,801.51 a year just to break even, a figure that is up by £129.35 compared to 2011, as the cost of essential and luxury items continues on an upward trend.

The spiralling cost of food, drink, clothing and footwear helped to push Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation to a figure of 2.7% in October, up from 2.2% in September, according to the Office for National Statistics.

This is reflected in Skipton’s survey of 2,000 UK families with at least two children living with them, which found that the average food shopping bill had increased by £33.38 year-on-year, while the cost of clothing (+£14.28) and toiletries and staple household items (+ £15.96) also shot up compared to 2011.

Other costs that have risen since 2011 include electricity bills (+£1.28), home maintenance (+£12.96) and petrol (+215.28).

“When we first carried out this research last year, we knew that people were feeling the pinch, with inflation riding high at 5% and savings accounts paying rock-bottom rates.  However even we were surprised that families needed to bring home almost £25,000 just to stand still,” said Andrew Barker, managing director of Skipton Financial Services.

“It seems that there is no end in sight for many families, with six out of 10 believing they'll end up paying out even more money on bills next year and with only one in 10 expecting to be less cash strapped in 2013 than in 2012.”

To ensure that your financial future is protected, you can compare life insurance with MoneyExpert.

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