Almost 43% of mortgage holders do not have life cover to protect their mortgage, according to data from Sainsbury's life insurance.
The findings suggested there are over 7.1m people with a collective outstanding mortgage balance of £318bn who have no life insurance to cover this.
This represents a 47% rise on the £217bn of mortgages not protected by life cover in 2006, suggesting policyholders have been cancelling life cover premiums to save cash.
Lucy Hunter, life insurance manager at Sainsbury's, said: "Life insurance provides financial cover should the unthinkable happen, enabling people to be secure in the knowledge that their dependants could receive a cash lump sum if they were to die."
She added: "This is particularly important for homeowners, who should take care not to overlook life insurance as it can help to ensure peace of mind that the property is paid for upon death, allowing loved ones to continue living in the family home, and it could also alleviate any financial burden, therefore providing financial security."
Of those who pay a mortgage that isn't covered by life protection, the research indicated that, on average they are personally responsible for an outstanding balance of over £44,000.
The data also suggested almost one third (32%) of 35 to 44 year olds don't have life insurance to protect their mortgage payments, and over one third (34%) of 45 to 54 year olds aren't covered.
