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A new survey has provided at least some explanation for Australia’s continuing underinsurance problem: men and women are quite simply overestimating the cost of an insurance premium.
The Lifebroker Life Insurance Survey, released this week, suggested men overestimated the annual premium of life insurance by 49 per cent while women overestimated it by a whopping 65 per cent.
Lifebroker managing director Chris Eade said it was this overestimation that was dissuading people from buying insurance, with 36 per cent of survey respondents stating the perceived expense was a major factor in their not having coverage.
“Contrary to many Australians’ perceptions, life insurance premiums actually cost about the same as home and car insurance premiums, and less than health insurance premiums,” he said.
Eade claimed a number of factors were contributing to the overestimation of premiums, including buyers not shopping around enough and life cover typically being sold through face-to-face contact.
