Every year a study is carried out to compare life insurance offered by banks and insurance companies, conducted by INESE in collaboration with the consulting firm Global Actuarial (companies that provide reliable information about the insurance sector and banking), and which has been echoed by economic newspapers in this country, such as Cinco Días. Let’s take a look at the results.
Premises of the life insurance study
This report was carried out using the “mystery shopping” technique and took place between March and April 2016, so it is very recent. It evaluates the rates offered in 27 entities, both banks and insurance companies. Among them we can mention: Caixabank, Santander, BBVA… And AXA, Zurich, etc.
The age ranges that have been assessed have been between 30 and 50 years old, and capital between 30,000 and 200,000 €.
Life Insurance Comparison Conclusions
They are no different from the report carried out the previous year:
Bank life insurance is between 30 and 35% more expensive than in an insurance company (even more depending on the age bracket).
In average figures: the average premium for 120,000 euros (Death + Permanent Disability Absolute)
- 30 years: 42.1% more expensive (Banks 269.22 euros vs. 155.77 euros)
- 40 years: 34.6% (Banks 443.24 euros vs. 289.87 euros)
- 45 years: 32.6% (Banks 694.80 euros versus 468.40 euros)
- 50 years: 32.9% (Banks 1,113.17 euros compared with 747.45 euros)
The cheapest premium of all is offered by the British company Aviva (now merged with St. Lucia). On the other side we can see how all the highest price proposals are from insurance companies controlled by banks. The most expensive is BBVA, followed by Banco Santander and Banco Sabadell.
As Isidre Martínez Ivars, author of the study explains: “we can validate that the rates applied in life-risk by insurance companies are significantly lower, between 30 and 35% on average, than the rates applied by banks”.
Where do I take out mortgage insurance?
In conclusion, banks can force us to take out life insurance when we take out a mortgage, but what they cannot force us to do is to take it out with them. It is true that the mortgage conditions would worsen (but always around 0.1-0.2%), but, on the other hand, we would save a lot of money on life insurance. Our advice is to compare these savings and see if the change is worthwhile. In most cases it is favorable.
If you want us to do this study with you, call us or write to us and tell us that you want to improve the conditions of your life insurance.
