Four in ten mortgage holders in Britain (41%) do not have their contributions covered by life insurance, the report from Sainsbury’s Life Insurance found.

It suggested that there are nearly seven million people, with a collective outstanding mortgage balance of £245bn, who have no life insurance to cover their mortgage and provide support to their dependants in event of their death.

On average, those who pay towards a mortgage and are not covered by life protection are currently personally responsible for an outstanding balance of over £36,000.

Many of those in age groups who are likely to have dependants are leaving themselves unprotected.

The research showed that 33% of 35- to 44-year-olds and a similar number (30%) of 45- to 54-year-olds do not have life insurance to protect their mortgage payments.

Helen Williams, head of Sainsbury’s Life Insurance, warned that being unprotected could have serious implications.

“Mortgage repayments are one of the biggest financial commitments in many peoples’ lives but, as our research shows, unfortunately it is not something that enough mortgage holders have taken steps to protect,” she said.

“We would urge anyone who doesn’t have life insurance to consider taking out a policy, and those who do and have moved to a bigger house to make sure it is updated to reflect their mortgage commitment,” she added.