Australia: Life insurance lacking in those with most to lose
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Mar 2015
Research commissioned by Australia’s largest life insurer, TAL, shows a dramatic difference between the number of Australians who rate the importance of life insurance and the number who have it. And those without financial protection usually have the most to lose from setbacks such as an accident or illness. This includes retirees and those approaching retirement.
Only 52% of those surveyed had some form of insurance
More than three-quarters of those surveyed (79%) rate life-related insurance as important or very important. This contrasts sharply with just 52% of people who say they actually hold some form of life insurance.
Australians were asked to rate the importance of the four main kinds of life insurance in the event their income suddenly stopped. The four life-related insurances are: life cover, critical illness, income protection and total and permanent disability insurance.
TAL Group CEO Jim Minto said: “The results show that most people rate financial protection as an important or very important thing to have, yet only around of half of the population say they actually have some form of protection in place.”
Need to close gap through education and information
He added: “Overall, it is hard to reconcile that most people understand how important it is to protect their lifestyles and their families’ financial wellbeing, but at the same time are not taking the action they need to do so. We just need to overcome this gap through more education and information.”
The survey was undertaken online by Galaxy Research with 1,266 Australians, from the ages of 18-69 years old.