The increasing average life expectancy of people in the UK has led one life insurance provider to modify its cover.
Axa has announced that it is lifting its life insurance age limit to 85, in order to reflect the UK's ageing population.
The company cited official figures which showed that, as well as living for longer, many people are delaying some of life's big decisions until they are older. According to the Office for National Statistics, the fastest growing birth rate in the UK is to be found among women over 35, while people are not buying their first home until they are 34 on average.
However, this change in habits, along with the continuing recession, has led to concerns that some people might forego life insurance to save money. PruProtect warned earlier in the month that cancelling a policy only to take it out again when money is less tight can be extremely costly.
But Axa has moved to make its life cover as attractive as possible - as well as lifting its age limit, the company is also increasing the amount of time people have from when they are offered the policy to when they take it up, from 90 to 180 days.
"By offering life cover to people up to the age of 85 and increasing the acceptance period to 180 days we are helping people to meet the needs of modern day life," said Iain Mallon, director of protection marketing at Axa. "By being flexible and making these changes Axa is ensuring it can meet changing customer needs."
