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Families from the Midlands are less well prepared to face thefuture when it comes to issues like death and serious illness,according to research from Norwich Union.

The research revealed that only 73% of couples from the Midlandswith children have life insurance to pay off their mortgage on thedeath of a partner, leaving more than a quarter of couples at riskof losing their home if a partner were to die. The most protectedare Northern families where 87% of couples have life insurance toprotect their mortgage.

The research also suggests that Midlands families are the leastcovered against illness than anywhere else in the country. Only 22%of couples from the Midlands have critical illness cover (this isinsurance which pays out a lump sum if a serious illness isdiagnosed) compared to 40% in the North.

Norwich Union commissioned the research among working mothersfollowing the huge rise in repayment mortgages, which do not haveessential life insurance built in. According to the Council ofMortgage Lenders around 68% of new mortgages are now on a repaymentbasis compared to just 15% in 1992.

Willie Mowatt, head of protection at Norwich Union, commented,“Only 12% of women felt that their salary alone would coverthe mortgage and they would still have the worry about the securityof their job. Our research also found it is vital that, asrepayment mortgages become more popular, that more people are notgambling with their homes”.

Full details are available by visiting the website onwww.norwich-union.co.uk or by calling 0800 015 2530.

Notes to Editors

1. 1 in 4 males and 1 in 6 females aged 30 will suffer a criticalillness such as cancer, heart attack or stroke before the age of65.*
2. 1 in 10 males and 1 in 33 females aged 30 will suffer a heartattack before they are 65.*
3. 1 in 10 males and 1 in 8 females aged 30 will contract cancerbefore they are 65.*
4. 1 in 21 males and 1 in 32 females aged 30 will have a strokebefore they are 65.*
5. Despite all this it is estimated that less than 12% of the UKworking population held critical illness policies during2000.*

• Fieldwork for research undertaken by Norwich Union took placeduring July 2001
• CGU plc and Norwich Union plc merged on 30 May 2000 to createCGNU plc, the UK’s largest insurance group and one of thetop-five insurers in Europe with substantial positions in othermarkets around the world, making it the world’s sixthlargest insurer based on gross worldwide premiums.
• CGNU’s principal business activities are long-termsavings, fund management and general insurance, with worldwidepremium income and retail investment sales from ongoing businessof over £27 billion and assets under management of more than £200billion(as at 30 June 2001)From October 2000, the combined lifeand pensions, general insurance and retail fund managementbusinesses in the UK operate under the Norwich Union brand, whilethe institutional investment business operates under the MorleyFund Management brand.
• Norwich Union’s news releases are available on thissite
• A selection of images are available from the CGNU Newscastsite at www.newscast.co.uk
• An ISDN facility is available for studio quality interviews.Call the press office on 08703 666873

* Source: GE Frankona – May 2001

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James Evans 08703 66 68 78 07790 487105
Louise Goffee 08703 66 68 70 07747 764342

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