Royal Ascot is Britain’s most popular race meeting, welcoming approximately 300,000 visitors across five days. Attracting many of the world’s finest racehorses who compete for more than £6.58 million in prize money.

There are many different races and cups up to be won and this year’s excitement launched today (14^th June). Tomorrow is the most popular day with gamblers, so if you like a bet this is the day to go - when stakes are raised and more money is won (and lost) on this day than any other.

On the busiest day of Royal Ascot 2014 over 500 tote staff took 143,000 bets!

In 2014, off course betting turnover generated more than £350 million, staggering!

If you are an experienced gambler there's no doubt you’ll weigh up the odds carefully to ensure a return on investment, whereas many of us will leave it to chance or pick a horse name that takes our fancy. Those looking for a safe bet, will probably place their money on a horse that has lower odds. Whatever type of gambler you are you’ll weigh up the options and make your choice, with the hope of winning (as there will be no guarantees).

Given that so much attention and thought goes into betting on such an occasion, it’s surprising that so many people discount the odds of the worst happening to them during their life. Many of us would rather back a horse at the races with the hope of getting lucky, than take out protection to safeguard the future of our loved ones.

That’s how it tends to be with financial protection - so many people ignore the odds and think that ‘it will never happen to me'.  Aviva’s Family Finances Report published earlier this year states that there has been a rise in the number of people who say they have not made any financial preparations for the future: 22% now say this is the case, up from 18% a year ago.

Protection products include term life, whole of life, relevant life, income protection, critical illness and collective life insurance and provide financial security in the event of serious illness, accident or death.

According to the Association of British Insurers, latest statistics for 2015, only 1% of households in the UK have income protection and less than 1 in 4 households have whole of life or term life insurance.

So it seems that we would rather back the horses or a random lottery win than put our money into adequate planning for the future.

So why should you consider planning now rather than tomorrow?

The Money Advice Service states that each year close to a million people find themselves unable to work due to a serious illness or injury – and it can strike at any time. According to Legal & General, in 2015 the average age of an Income Protection claimant was 41.

• If you couldn’t work due to a serious illness, how would you manage?
• What would you do if you couldn’t work?  The bills wouldn’t stop just because you stopped working.
• Could you survive on savings, or on sick pay from work?

We don’t like to be reminded of our physical vulnerability, and would much rather focus on exciting ways to spend our hard earned cash. But when serious illness or accident strikes, protection products come into their own and you should consider placing your money on something that could really happen; that’s a safer bet.

At Essential Insurance, we can give you the guidance you need, explain all your options in a way that you’ll understand and we’ll deal with the necessary paperwork quickly and efficiently - saving you time and effort.

Our team of experts offer no obligation advice to find a policy that will best suit your circumstances and budget. You can call us on 0800 612 8005.