{"id":20897,"date":"2013-05-14T12:36:22","date_gmt":"2013-05-14T02:36:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/?p=20897"},"modified":"2013-05-15T07:47:26","modified_gmt":"2013-05-14T21:47:26","slug":"is-life-insurance-too-expensive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/2013\/05\/14\/is-life-insurance-too-expensive\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Life Insurance Too Expensive?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"polls-95\" class=\"wp-polls\">\n\t\t<div class=\"pollHeader\"><strong>Is Life Insurance in Australia Too Expensive?<\/strong><\/div><div id=\"polls-95-ans\" class=\"wp-polls-ans\"><ul class=\"wp-polls-ul\">\n\t\t<li>Depends on type of product <small>(51%)<\/small><div class=\"pollbar\" style=\"width: 51%\" title=\"Depends on type of product (51% | 57 Votes)\"><\/div><\/li>\n\t\t<li>Yes <small>(28%)<\/small><div class=\"pollbar\" style=\"width: 28%\" title=\"Yes (28% | 31 Votes)\"><\/div><\/li>\n\t\t<li>No <small>(21%)<\/small><div class=\"pollbar\" style=\"width: 21%\" title=\"No (21% | 24 Votes)\"><\/div><\/li>\n\t\t<li>Not sure <small>(0%)<\/small><div class=\"pollbar\" style=\"width: 1%\" title=\"Not sure (0% | 0 Votes)\"><\/div><\/li>\n\t\t<\/ul><div style=\"text-align: center\"><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" id=\"poll_95_nonce\" name=\"wp-polls-nonce\" value=\"1add65c630\" \/>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>A simple question forms the basis of our latest adviser poll:<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Is Life Insurance in Australia Too Expensive?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><!--more-->While the question is\u00a0simple, determining\u00a0the answer may not be as easy.\u00a0 We\u00a0had re-affirmed for us\u00a0this week that the number one reason\u00a0the main income earner in a household does not have life insurance is because it is too expensive (see: <a href=\"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/2013\/05\/13\/life-insurance-is-too-expensive-consumers\/\">Life Insurance is Too Expensive &#8211; Consumers<\/a>).\u00a0 TAL tells us that\u00a0the &#8216;too expensive&#8217; reason (or excuse?) is the main driver for not taking out life cover &#8211;\u00a0by\u00a0a significant margin, followed by: not having any dependents to protect, and the belief that health insurance provides the same level of protection.<\/p>\n<p><em>(As a side issue, will consumers view the soon-to-be-implemented National Disability Insurance Scheme as another reason not to secure life insurance cover appropriate to their needs?)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>But back to our poll\u00a0&#8211; do you think the cost of life insurance in Australia\u00a0is literally too expensive for consumers?\u00a0 Or do you think it is\u00a0only perceived to be too expensive when, in reality,\u00a0it is not?\u00a0 Does this distinction even matter, when the end result is the same, ie: consumers aren&#8217;t buying?<\/p>\n<p>The industry is presently engaging in a heightened debate on the issue of sustainability.\u00a0 It is reported that\u00a0policy lapse rates are heading north and that claims experience losses are increasing, particularly within the income protection market.\u00a0 These trends combine to create an argument that\u00a0life insurance premiums in Australia are, in fact, too low!<\/p>\n<p>The question becomes more involved when taking into account the expanding variety of life insurance products that are being launched into the market, via multiple channels.\u00a0 Some are &#8216;advised&#8217;, comprehensive,\u00a0life insurance solutions, while others by-pass the adviser and are delivered direct to the end user, or via group insurance and industry funds.\u00a0 This doesn&#8217;t mean that direct or group products are necessarily cheaper or offer better value, but it does highlight the growing variety of options available to the public.\u00a0 Yet it seems that, while overall industry sales are still growing, a significant proportion\u00a0of\u00a0consumers are\u00a0still resisting &#8211; mainly based on affordability issues.<\/p>\n<p>How can\/should this issue be addressed?\u00a0 If &#8216;affordability&#8217; is just a perception issue, then it seems the industry continues to be challenged by\u00a0its long-time inability to truly engage with the mass market.\u00a0 If pricing is indeed too high, how does the life insurance sector manage this issue at a time when there is upward pressure on premiums?<\/p>\n<p>For the time being, tell us whether you believe consumers are paying too much for their life insurance coverage, or whether you think they are getting good value today for the premiums they pay&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A simple question forms the basis of our latest adviser poll: Is Life Insurance in Australia Too Expensive?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-general","category-polls"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20897\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}