Press Release
Women starting to wear the trousers in life cover purchase as Click reports surge in fairer sex applicants
-Applications from women soar, while male numbers decrease
-More women taking over traditional male provider roles
A SUBSTANTIAL leap in the numbers of women applying for life cover is reported today by leading telephone and online life broker Click.
The study - based on 250,000 men and women - charts the numbers of female applications rising from just 9 per cent in March 2006 to nearly 35 per cent in March 2007 (see table below).
This rise is underpinned by Office of National Statistics (ONS) research* for socio/economic trends in 2006, showing an increase in the number of lone families with nine out of ten being headed by a woman - and nearly half of those lone mothers have never been married.
"Our figures are all the more surprising as male submissions plunged from almost 92 per cent to just below 71 per cent of total applications during the same period," said Click managing director Steve Teague.
As the ONS stats suggest, shifting socio-economic factors appear to be having an effect on the rise of women taking out life cover.
"A logical spin-off of this trend is that women are adopting traditional male roles like arranging life cover and dealing with wider aspects of the household budget," added Teague.
"And the facts and figures from our research, backed up by the ONS report, suggest that even single parent families are waking up to the fact that it is sensible to have a life cover policy in place."
The study also revealed an upward movement of single applications which seem to be replacing joint male and female applications**. This goes hand in hand with the ONS chart showing an increase in single parent families from 2006.
Table source: Click May 2007
| Date | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| % of total applications | % of total applications | |
| 2006-03 | 91.2 | 8.8 |
| 2006-04 | 70.4 | 29.6 |
| 2006-05 | 66.7 | 33.3 |
| 2006-06 | 67.1 | 32.9 |
| 2006-07 | 68.1 | 31.9 |
| 2006-08 | 67.1 | 32.9 |
| 2006-09 | 67.9 | 32.1 |
| 2006-10 | 67.2 | 32.8 |
| 2006-11 | 72.3 | 27.7 |
| 2006-12 | 78.6 | 21.4 |
| 2007-01 | 70.5 | 29.5 |
| 2007-02 | 65.9 | 34.1 |
| 2007-03 | 65.5 | 34.5 |
*Family Composition - couple vs lone parent families
Source: ONS May 2007
**Other data tables for the period March 2006 - March 2007 are also available.
Click's life division is regulated by the Financial Services Authority
Ends
Consumer enquiries: www.click.co.uk / 01252 728800
Press enquiries:
Steve Teague, Managing Director
Click
01252 728886
s.teague@click.co.uk
Lucie Ager, Account Director
David Andrews Media Ltd
1273 774109 / 07796 263 878
lucie@davidandrewsmedia.co.uk
David Andrews, Director
David Andrews Media Ltd
01273 774109 / 07941 255 855
david@davidandrewsmedia.co.uk
Editor's notes:
Click, based in Farnham, Surrey, is one of the fastest growing independent secured loans and life cover specialists in the UK.
Originally branded Click Group, the company was founded in 2000 by its Managing Director, Steve Teague.
The current structure of the business was introduced in 2001 with the formation of its life insurance and loans brokerages. Since then, the company has grown to employ over 230 staff and has recently branded under the name Click.
Now Click is one of the biggest players in the independent loans and life brokerage sector, and continues to expand with a strong, top drawer management team.
Click has ambitious plans for imminent growth and is on course to become the UK's number one online financial services firms by 2010.
