63% of people in Britain still think ‘it’ will never happen to them according to new independent research commissioned by Scottish Provident.

This figure relates to those who believe their chances of suffering an illness which would prevent them from working for six months or more, during their working life, is less than 10%

The High Wire Britain research was undertaken by Ipsos MORI, on behalf of Scottish Provident, to investigate consumer lifestyles and attitudes

Those surveyed in their thirties and forties believe they are most likely to be affected if they or someone in their household were to lose their job, with 88% stating that they would be affected. This is a lot higher than the survey total which is 66% (this includes some people who are retired across all age groups). However, Scottish Provident argues people continue to have inadequate protection as they simply believe it will not happen to them

The research found that 65% of people surveyed would be affected if they or someone in their household contracted a serious illness and had to give up work for more than six months. This rises to 85% for those with children, as opposed to just 73% for those without children.

Those who do not have insurance believe they are less likely to be affected than those who do, at 55% and 74% respectively.

Susan Barclay, head of marketing at Scottish Provident, said: “Most people find it hard to accept that they may face redundancy or a critical illness one day as they just don’t want to think about the worst happening. Despite some very high profile cases of critical illness in the media and news of mass redundancies nearly every day