Sainsbury's Bank is advising UK parents to consider getting life insurance after its commissioned study found that nearly 6 million have no cover.

More than 5.7 million parents have no life cover despite the cost of children, the lender contests. This is despite the inherent costs associated with looking after children, which the bank is advising parents not to underestimate.

The bank is urging all parents to regularly review their protection needs, in particular life insurance. Life cover doesn’t need to be expensive, insurance through Sainsbury’s Bank starts from GBP5 per month.

Gail Baillie, life insurance manager for Sainsbury’s Bank, said: It’s so easy to underestimate how expensive it is to look after a child. Parents need to consider how their families would cope financially should something happen to them. Life insurance can provide great peace of mind in the knowledge that your dependents would receive a cash lump sum if you were to die.