Just one-third of parents insure themselves in the event of a critical illness versus 90% who will insure this year's holiday

Reality check needed for parents with no plans in place

Research launched today [5th July 2007] by Bank of Ireland Life, will prompt a reality check for two-thirds of parents with children under 18 years who don't have any contingency plan in the event that one partner becomes seriously ill and cannot work.

Highlights of the research targeting families include:

Commenting on the research results, Kevin Manning, Head of Marketing, Bank of Ireland Life said, "Considering the cost of insuring yourself can be less than insuring your car, I would encourage all parents with children under 18 years to give themselves a financial healthcheck. In reality the financial consequences of denting your car, or losing your luggage on holiday, are significantly less than if one parent could not continue to work in paid employment or work in the home due to a serious illness, such as Cancer or Heart attack."

When asked how they would cope financially if either one became seriously ill and could not return to work 36% of parents did not know how they would cope. Nearly two-thirds of parents with children under 18 years, said they would cash in any savings & investments if this happened, while just 3% said they would get a loan or borrow money from friends and family. However with the average SSIA savings lump sum at just eur14,000 the family savings may not be enough to support a family during these difficult years.

In terms of the impact on the family lifestyle that a parent who could not work due to a serious illness would have, almost half of all parents surveyed believed that losing out on family holidays would be most significant. The second major impact on family life cited by one-third of parents was that the healthy partner would have to work two jobs in order to make ends meet.

Interestingly, there was a significant disparity between parents who are co-habiting versus those who are married, with more than double (61%) the number of parents living together saying that their partner would have to work two jobs, compared to just 28% of parents who are married.

Most worrying though was the fact that 43% of single parents did not think that their inability to work due to a serious illness would have any real impact on their family's life, with many citing the social welfare benefit as a replacement income. However, since the State Disability benefit currently pays out just eur185 per week, this may not be enough to maintain their current expenditure and standard of living.

Downsizing the family home to free-up cash was the third biggest impact for families, with 29% expecting that this option would significantly impact on their family's life.

"Moving to a smaller home or to a less expensive neighbourhood will have a significant impact for any family with children. For example the children may have to move schools and leave their friends, while parents may lose the support of family and friends that lived locally, during this upsetting time. The option of the healthy parent working two jobs is also not ideal, as they will want to spend some time with their ill partner and children, and perform some of the necessary household duties. Putting financial plans in place now to guard against some of these issues, should be a priority for any parent. We all think it will never happen to us, but current statistics for Cancer and Heart-related illnesses are showing that the risks are actually increasing amongst younger adults," added Kevin Manning.

Surprisingly few parents thought they would have to sell their car (15%) to reduce financial expenditure, or move their children out of private education (4%) if one parent could no longer work due to a serious illness.

ENDS

For further information contact:

Laura Erskine
Public Relations Manager
Bank of Ireland Life
Ph. 01 617 2586
Mob. 086 856 2929

Mary Brennan
Group Consumer Communications
Bank of Ireland
Ph. 01 604 3838
Mob. 087 283 3646

Research conducted by W5 Marketing Intelligence during May 2007 with a nationally representative sample of parents.

Notes to editors:
Comparative cost of insurance: