The latest survey of life insurance coverage shows that only 56 per cent of respondents had personal life policies and of that group, 45 per cent had cover worth £50,000 or less.

The survey, which was conducted by Irish Marketing Surveys on behalf of Ark Life, showed that 40 per cent of males, 48 per cent of females and 32 per cent of married people did not have any personal life cover. Only one in five of the respondents said their employers provided a death in service benefit.

Most did not know what the level of cover was, but estimated it to be between £20,000£100,000. More women (36 per cent) than men (21 per cent) were unaware of the amount of life cover held by their spouse. Asked how much life insurance would be required to maintain their family's current standard of living, half were unable to venture a guess, while the other half said in excess of £50,000.