A Fifth of Brits Would Sell Their Partners for £1m or Less

NEWPORT, Wales, October 31, 2011 -

14% of Men Would Sell Their Other Half for £100k

Over a fifth (21%) of Brits currently in a relationship would sell their partner for £1 million or less, new research from comparison site Gocompare.com has found.

The survey of 3,000 Brits, carried out to highlight the importance life insurance cover, is reminiscent of the 1993 film ‘Indecent Proposal’ where Demi Moore’s character is offered $1m by tycoon Robert Redford to spend just one night with him, despite her being happily married to Woody Harrelson.

The scenario used in the research made it clear that the sale would be a permanent arrangement, rather than for just one night, and they would no longer provide any income, childcare support or help around the home. However, despite this 19 per cent of women and 24 per cent of men said they would wave goodbye to their partners for just £1m or less.

However, a surprising number of people would take considerably less than £1m if there was cash on the table. Nearly 20 per cent of men and 14 per cent of women would let their partners go for half that amount (£500,000) and an amazing 14 per cent of men and 9 per cent of women would take just £100,000 or less given the opportunity.

Four per cent of Brits currently in a relationship would let their other halves go for absolutely nothing.

When asked what they’d miss most if their partners weren’t around, nearly 80 per cent of women and 67 per cent of men said the companionship. However, 12 per cent of men said they’d miss the sex most of all, compared to just 4.5 per cent of women. Five per cent of women would most miss their partner’s income compared to just 2 per cent of men and 3 per cent of respondents said they wouldn’t miss a thing about their partner. Perhaps the same people who’d happily give them away.

Having been asked to name their price for their other half, just 10 per cent of Brits said that their partners had that much life insurance cover. One third of respondents said their partners had no life insurance cover at all.

The cost of life insurance for £100k, £500k and £1m

    Age   Gender  Sum Insured   Term          Monthly Premium
    30    Female  GBP100,000    25 years      GBP5.00
    30    Female  GBP500,000    25 years      GBP15.96
    30    Female  GBP1,000,000  25 years      GBP32.22
    40    Male    GBP100,000    25 years      GBP10.75
    40    Male    GBP500,000    25 years      43.52
    40    Male    GBP1,000,000  25 years      GBP83.75

Source: Gocompare.com’s life insurance comparison, level term insurance premiums based on the cheapest quotes for non-smokers.

Jeremy Cryer, from Gocompare.com said, “Realistically we’re not going to get the opportunity to sell our partner but sometimes we don’t have a choice about when they’re taken away. It’s not a subject people like to talk about but when it comes to looking at your partner’s life insurance you need to be a bit selfish. Most people in our survey said that their partner was priceless. It’s a lovely sentiment, but losing a partner, especially if you’re parents, can have a heavy and tangible financial impact as well as an emotional one.

“We asked people to think about how much they’d sell their partners for. It was a light hearted question but with a serious intent as it hopefully made them think about how much money they’d need if their partners weren’t around. £100,000 of life cover can cost under £10 per month and a million pounds worth of cover may also be a lot cheaper than you think at just over £32.00 a month for a 30 year old female non- smoker.

“Most of us will settle for something in between but the most important thing is to plan ahead and make sure loved ones are financially protected if disaster strikes.  It can be difficult working out how much cover you or your partner needs but as a rule you should certainly be thinking about buying enough cover to clear any outstanding debts, including your mortgage, and providing enough money for your partner or family to maintain a reasonable standard of living.”

Source: www.gocompare.com/life-insurance/

Gocompare.com launched in November 2006 to help people find the right insurance cover at the right price.  It was founded by Hayley Parsons who has worked her entire career in the insurance broking and aggregator markets and was the first comparison site to focus on displaying product features rather than just listing prices.  It was this philosophy that led to Gocompare.com becoming the first price comparison site to be invited to join the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) in May 2008 and helped force older comparison sites to change their ‘quick quote’ ways and stop using assumptions to calculate estimated figures.

Today, Gocompare.com provides one of the most comprehensive online car insurance comparison services in the UK as well as comparing home, pet, motorbike, van insurance and breakdown cover. 

Gocompare.com is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

For further information please contact: Lynsey Walden or Anders Nilsson at Gocompare.com on +44(0)1633 654 055 / +44(0)1633 657 599 ; Gordon, Jason or Liz at MAW Communications on +44(0)1603 505 845 ; Notes to Editors: Research commissioned by Gocompare.com. Carried out with 3,000 UK adults in September 2011 by OnePoll Research