Two out of five clients will decline taking out life cover even after full explanation of the insurance and its benefits, a chartered financial planner has said.
Chris Bryans, managing director of chartered advice firm Ariun Financial Consulting, said: "It absolutely is the case that protection is always a hard sell. Clients are so happy to insure their house and car and spend on leisure but do not insure themselves.
"There are many occasions when I speak to clients with large families and the last thing they want to do is take out cover."
According to a Legal and General report, life insurance for the average British family would cost 15% of their current average spend on alcohol and cigarettes.
The provider's Deadline to the Breadline Report showed average spend on cigarettes and alcohol a year was £1300 while only £356 was paid for financial protection against a future catastrophe, such as living with the effects of a disability, cancer or stroke.
The report showed the average Briton spent £1900 each year on clothing; five times the disposable income to protect the home and family against critical illness and more than 10 times the cost of the average annual life insurance policy.
John Pollock, group executive director at Legal & General, said: "This comparison is a particularly stark one when charted against the premiums over a given year, and when you consider that nearly two-thirds of Britons do not have life insurance to protect their family's needs."
Chris Dixon, owner of Skipton-based IFA firm Approachable Finance, said selling protection was all about putting the concept into real terms with clients.
He said: "I do not have much problem selling protection as my background in medical sickness helps. I do not sell the policy as such but rather the situation and real circumstances clients might find themselves in."
The L&G report is the first of a series of publications that will track the financial health of the nation's households as the economy changes over the next few years.
