{"id":50366,"date":"2020-06-09T11:00:47","date_gmt":"2020-06-09T01:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/?p=50366"},"modified":"2020-06-16T14:32:57","modified_gmt":"2020-06-16T04:32:57","slug":"australians-want-insurance-guidance-in-face-of-pandemic-uncertainty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/2020\/06\/09\/australians-want-insurance-guidance-in-face-of-pandemic-uncertainty\/","title":{"rendered":"Australians Want Insurance Guidance in Face of Pandemic Uncertainty"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian consumers are taking a more active interest in their insurance and superannuation, as the impact of Covid-19 on personal finances continues to be felt, according to new research from MetLife Australia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A statement from the insurer says that 28 percent of Australians have undertaken some form of activity with regard to life insurance since the outbreak of Covid-19, and this number increases to 40 percent for people aged 18-34.<\/p>\n

However, MetLife says the activity has to date primarily consisted of researching insurance online and speaking to family and friends.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
James Carey…good news for the industry.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It says that consumers are also actively thinking about their superannuation, with two-thirds (66 percent) of people wanting to hear from their fund about their investments and what they can do to protect their superannuation.<\/p>\n

In turn, more than half (52 percent) are also keen to receive information regarding life insurance inside their super.<\/p>\n

MetLife says this is good news for the industry \u201c\u2026as consumer engagement has been a barrier to ensuring people have the right products to meet their needs\u201d.<\/p>\n

James Carey<\/strong>, Head of Group Insurance at MetLife Australia, says the spike in interest in super and insurance was understandable, given the ongoing financial stress being felt by many Australians during Covid-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur research found that half of Australians claim Covid-19 has had a negative impact on their personal finances. Although the number of people reporting a \u2018very negative\u2019 impact has eased since March, there is still a lot of uncertainty when it comes to job security and financial wellbeing, particularly amongst younger Australians.\u201d<\/p>\n

He notes that financial providers, including superfunds and advisers, have a key role to play in helping consumers navigate this uncertainty.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsumers are continuing to look to their financial providers to guide them, particularly on topics like super investment performance and early access to their super balance,\u201d Carey says.<\/p>\n

…since the outbreak of Covid-19 it has experienced a marked increase in inquiries for life and income protection insurance…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The insurer says that since the outbreak of Covid-19 it has experienced a marked increase in inquiries for life and income protection insurance, reflecting the concerns of many during this uncertain time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile it\u2019s encouraging to see so many Australians, particularly those in the younger age bracket, take active steps to understand their financial situation, the increase in and types of inquiries we\u2019ve experienced over the past few months suggests many consumer don\u2019t fully understand what is, and isn\u2019t, covered by different insurance products,\u201d he states<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, income protection will cover you if you\u2019re unable to work due to illness or injury but doesn\u2019t protect against redundancy \u2013 which is what many consumers have been worried about since the Covid-19 lockdown began.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carey says there is an important opportunity for financial providers to educate consumers to ensure they have the right protection for their situation.<\/p>\n

The online survey was conducted from 6-11 May 2020, with a sample size of 1,283 Australians aged 18-65 years representative of national demographics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australian consumers are taking a more active interest in their insurance and superannuation, as the impact of Covid-19 on personal finances continues to be felt, according to new research from MetLife Australia. A statement from the insurer says that 28 percent of Australians have undertaken some form of activity with regard to life insurance since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":50368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-50366","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50366","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\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}