UAE: Brand and price most impact life insurance purchases
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Nov 2018
Brand reputation and price have the greatest influence on people’s decision to buy life and critical illness insurance in the UAE, according to FPI’s fourth annual protection survey results.
These factors were considered more important than others, such as adviser recommendation, claims payment history and portability which enables continuity of insurance coverage when relocating to another country.
The survey, conducted in collaboration with market research and data analytics firm YouGov, polled more than 1,000 respondents in July. Up to 40% of respondents said the brand reputation of the insurer was the most important factor behind their decision to purchase life insurance, while another 30% cited affordability as their key consideration. Only 7% of respondents said that adviser recommendation was the most important factor in choosing insurance.
The survey also showed that just under half (49%) of respondents have life cover and overall just 24% have cover against serious illness. Of the male respondents 28% claimed to have critical illness insurance (up from 25% in 2017) and only 19% of females (down from 24% last year) said they had this cover.
Of the 51% of respondents who said they did not have life cover, 36% said it was too expensive, while 30% of respondents without cover were not familiar with the concept of life insurance. Another 39% said they were not familiar with critical illness insurance.
“As the survey shows, there is a worrying lack of understanding around life and critical illness insurance and therefore people are likely to base their decisions on factors such as brand reputation of the insurer and price. While it is important to consider these aspects, a financial adviser is best placed to review a range of plans from different providers, and to help people choose a plan that is appropriate for their individual circumstances, and not just based on price and brand,” said Mr Chris Divito, managing director, Middle East and Africa, at FPI. M