Aviva is offering a year of free life cover worth £15,000 to each parent of a child aged under five.

Cover is available to both parents for each child registered before their fourth birthday. £15,000 of cover is available for both parents for each child. This could mean cover worth £30,000 for each eligible child if both parents apply.

Only 42% of UK families have life insurance, yet every 22 minutes a child loses a parent.

Advisers can arrange free parent life cover for their clients by contacting www.aviva-for-advisers.co.uk. No payment is taken and Aviva will not request bank or credit card details from applicants.

Aviva was the first insurer to offer free life cover in 2009. The latest offer is a development of Aviva’s existing ‘free new parent life cover’ which provided £10,000 of life cover to parents up to their child’s first birthday.

Louise Colley, protection director for Aviva, said: “At Aviva we believe that every family deserves to understand the financial risks they face and take action so they have a financial cushion if the worst were to happen.

“We’ve been on a journey since we launched our free life cover offer in 2009 and this is the latest step to enable advisers to engage with their clients and help them to understand the importance of protection.

“We know sometimes financial protection gets left on the ‘to do’ list as family life gets in the way but you can’t underestimate the difference financial protection makes. I’m delighted that we are now able to strengthen our offer to reach even more families as this is a catalyst to take action and protect what matters most.”