Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine has signed a proclamation making September “Life Insurance Awareness Month,” part of a national campaign to call attention to the need for people to consider life insurance.

Robert E. West Jr.

“The governor’s action will bring greater visibility to the initiative and the need for life insurance,” said Robert E. West Jr., president of the Virginia chapter of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, in a statement. “The financial safety net that life insurance provides is especially important now given that many people have far fewer financial resources to fall back on in the event of a premature death in their family.”

Nearly 68 million adults do not have life insurance, while the majority of people who are covered by life policies have, on average, far less than is recommended, according to NAIFA, which is participating in the awareness month activities.

Insured Americans, on average, have only four times their annual income in life insurance coverage. Many insurance experts believe that people’s true need for coverage is 10 times their gross annual income or more.

Just 41% of adult Americans have individual life insurance. Many rely on insurance provided by their employers, leaving many employees without coverage if they were to lose their job or change jobs.

“People need to learn more about the benefits of life insurance so that in the event of a death, the family will be spared the economic hardships that accompany this type of tragedy,” West said. “We hope that the Life Insurance Awareness Month campaign will address the crisis of under-insurance that our nation faces today.”

The industry plays a significant role in the state, NAIFA-Virginia officials say. At total of 481 life insurers, employing about 20,000 people in the state, are licensed in Virginia, with six domiciled in Virginia.

Virginia residents have $700 billion in death benefit coverage, with state residents owning 5 million individual life insurance policies. Those policies have an average coverage level of $90,000 per policyholder, NAIFA-Virginia officials said. Group life insurance coverage amounts to $280 billion in the state, and individual life insurance coverage purchased in 2007 in Virginia totaled $50 billion.

A total of $8 billion was paid to Virginia residents in the form of death benefits, matured endowments, policy dividends, surrender values, and other payments in 2007. Another $1 billion in annuity benefits were paid in the state in 2007.

Meanwhile, life insurance companies invest about $120 billion of their assets in Virginia’s economy.

NAIFA-Virginia, founded in 1935 as the Virginia Association of Life Underwriters, has more than 1,400 members and is part of the nearly 700 associations comprising the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors federation, with more than 60,000 members nationwide.