Women around the country are undervaluing the amount they are worth and failing to safeguard their families’ financial futures by placing a much lower monetary value on their lives compared to men, according to Scottish Provident.

Men and women have both increased the amounts they insure themselves for in the past year, with the only exception being women in their 50s whose typical level of cover has fallen by 8% in the past year (£224,660 – 2011, £207,490 – 2012).

However, despite these increases, women are still insuring themselves for far less than their male counterparts, with women in their 30s typically insuring themselves for nearly a third less than men in the same age bracket.

This gap gets progressively wider with age and becomes a significant gulf for those in their 60s, when men have three times as much cover in place.

Jennifer Gilchrist, senior product development manager, at Scottish Provident, said: “In 2012 at most ages we saw a healthy increase in the average sum assured for both men and women compared to 2011. However, it is disappointing that in all but the 60s age range the gulf between men and women has continued to widen. This is especially so when so much effort was put into marketing towards women prior to the implementation of the EU gender directive.

“It is important that both men and women look to protect their families’ futures by making sure they take out sufficient cover to look after them. We may have succeeded in persuading more women to take out life assurance than before but these figures show they still don’t have enough. We need to consider how we reinforce these messages so that women truly understand their financial worth.”

The impact of the EU gender directive on buying behaviour is highlighted by sales figures reported by Scottish Provident. A breakdown of the sales figures in December highlighted the considerable increase in the number of women buying life policies, with a 95% increase year-on-year for Scottish Provident.