"It is understandable that we rely on the finances of both people in the relationship to pay our mortgage and rent."
Two thirds (67%) of those married, living as married or in a civil partnership in a property would struggle to keep up with their payments if their partner were to stop contributing towards the bills.
The average monthly mortgage repayment across the UK is £581, which is 18% of the average disposable household income amount. Should one person not be able to pay their share of the mortgage, the remaining partner would need to find an extra £291 per month to cover the remaining half of the mortgage and the overall cost would become 36% of their disposable household income.
For those renting, the average cost is even higher. The average rent in the UK currently stands at £889 per month, or 27% of the disposable income per household. Should one person be left to cover the rent themselves, they would need to find an extra £445 per month, a staggering 54% of their disposable household income.
When it comes to paying rent, those in London and the South East have the highest monthly payments, at £1,611 and £1,035 respectively. In London, a month’s rental payment is 35% of a household’s disposable income meaning if one partner should not be able to contribute, the other would need to find a huge £806 a month and the rental payment would become more than two thirds (69%) of their monthly disposable income.
For nearly four million people (28%), it would be impossible to find this extra money based on their income alone and they would immediately be unable to keep up with their home payments.
In fact, only around a fifth (22%) would be able to continue paying their rent or mortgage without their partner’s contribution.
If the worst was to happen and their partner passed away for example, nearly half (44%) of those with mortgage or rent payments – over eight million people – would potentially have to sell their home or move to somewhere with lower rental payments due to their reduced income. Despite this risk, over six million people (34%) do not have any form of financial protection in place to help protect their home in the event of losing income.
Jane Morgan, business manager at Direct Line Life Insurance, commented: “It is understandable that we rely on the finances of both people in the relationship to pay our mortgage and rent. These are expensive outgoings which often need two incomes and it probably feels like we would never need to worry about paying their share.
“Unfortunately, it’s impossible to know what will happen in the future so it’s important to be prepared so that if the worst does happen you know you are able to carry on paying your bills and don’t have to worry about moving home. Nobody wants that kind of additional worry during an already very stressful time of their life and life insurance could offer important financial protection and peace of mind that you’d be able to stay in your home through a difficult time.”
