While many Canadians have concerns about their economic situations coming into the year 2022, the one expense they will not give up on is life insurance – according to a new survey by online insurance brokerage PolicyAdvisor.
PolicyAdvisor’s survey found that 59% of Canadians state they are concerned about the rising cost of living due to inflation, as well as expected increases in interest rates. Another 14% said that job security is their top concern for 2022, citing a stalled economy.
“Canadians know they are going to feel some pain in their pocketbooks in the next 12 months,” commented PolicyAdvisor.com founder and CEO Jiten Puri. “But, it’s the immediate uncertainty of pricing, be it grocery bills or mortgage rates, that is top of mind, and may lead to across the board spending cuts.”
The survey respondents revealed their plans to cut down on certain expenses for next year: cuts to entertainment (51%), travel (43%), and clothing (42%) were the most significant, PolicyAdvisor found. However, life and health insurance is considered “the least expendable” expense among those surveyed, the report said, as policyholders are greatly concerned about their family’s protection amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Certain findings of the survey suggest that there may be an opportunity for insurers to better sell their life and health products. The report found that some 52% of Canadians feel uncertain that they have enough financial protection for themselves or their loved ones should they be afflicted with a COVID-related illness or death. Another 45% who have not purchased life insurance said that they mainly worry about the cost of buying coverage; while vaccination status does not have an impact on insurance availability or pricing, many hope that there are discounts for those who are inoculated.
In September, another survey by Sun Life found that over half of Canadians lack a proper financial plan. Of note was that the 55-years-old-and-up group had the largest percentage of individuals that said they lacked insurance – 44% of those in the age group indicated they did not include insurance cover in their financial plans. When asked why they did not have coverage, 29% of respondents said that they “do not need it.”
