MSV Life, the life insurance company, has dedicated September to a month-long life insurance awareness campaign. The initiative, the first of its kind locally, aims to raise public awareness of the benefits and importance of life insurance.

“While everyone’s circumstances are unique, everyone needs life insurance at different stages in life,” MSV Life senior executive Joanna Azzopardi explained. “From covering our first loan, to protecting our family and ultimately planning for succession (inheritance) tax, we all need to consider the financial impact of our death on those we leave behind.”

MSV has launched a campaign themed What If You Died Yesterday? to raise awareness of the financial implications families face when people pass away.

Ms Azzopardi added that life insurance helped give people peace of mind that their families could continue to enjoy the lifestyle they were accustomed to and ensured future plans are fulfilled.

“We all have dreams for ourselves and our family, from seeing our children grow and study abroad, to their wedding day, a first deposit on their home or our own retirement,” she continued. “While we can save towards these goals they will become derailed if we don’t protect them. This is where life insurance plays such an important role.”

Statistics show most people either have no insurance or are under-insured since most life policies are simply used to cover loans.

MSV Life chief executive officer David Curmi says fewer than 35 per cent of the working population have any form of life protection and since most of the policies will be used to repay bank loans, many Maltese families will find themselves woefully under-insured and facing unnecessary financial risks.

Life insurance should be the foundation of every individual’s financial planning since it helps to protect people at any stage in their life. It is the only financial instrument that provides an immediate tax-free benefit on death, he said.