Prepared for:

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Consumer Survey on Life Insurance
Prepared for Prepared by
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What are we trying to achieve?
To ascertain consumers knowledge, perceptions
and attitudes on insurance protection.
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How did we do this?

• A quantitative survey was conducted amongst
  N400 Singaporeans, aged 18-62.
• Sample was quota controlled on gender, age,
  ethnicity, house type and income to ensure that
  it is representative of the population.
• Interviews were done face-to-face in the homes of
  respondents using a structured questionnaire.

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SURVEY FINDINGS
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Two-thirds of Singaporeans have some form of
insurance. Conversely, 3 in 10 do not have any.
A lot of room for growth still.
Owners N259 Non-Owners N115 Lapsed Owners
N26
Owners are defined as those who currently own any
policy Non-owners are defined as do not own any
policy Lapsed owners are defined as those who
currently do not have any and cancelled policies
before
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Insurance owners (65 of population)
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Healthy ownership levels for Life insurance and
Medical/Health insurance (relative to others).
However, 7 in 10 do not have a life insurance
policy.
Question And, could you tell me all the
different types of insurance you currently
have? Base Total respondents (N400)

Medical/Health Personal Accident Auto/Car Life
Insurance/Term Insurance Endowment Critical
illness Whole Life Insurance Investment linked
plans Mortgage protection plans Travel Retirement
plans Income protection plans
Average 3.45 types
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Amongst those who have personal insurance, 46
think they are sufficiently covered by their
existing policies.
Question Using a scale of 1 to 5 where 5 means
Definitely well-covered and 1 means Definitely
not well-covered, please tell me how well do you
think you are covered? Base Among insurance
owners (N259)
N26
Definitely well-covered Probably
well-covered May or may not be
well-covered Probably not well-covered Definite
ly not well-covered
N115
Well-covered 46
N259
Not well-covered 54
WELL- COVERED 46
NOT WELL- COVERED 54
N120
N138
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Those who think they are well-covered show little
interest in buying more insurance. Even amongst
those who do not think they are well-covered,
only 3 in 10 is considering buying in the future.
N26
N115
N259
PLANS TO BUY 30
PLANS TO BUY 19
WELL- COVERED 46
NOT WELL- COVERED 54
NO PLANS TO BUY 70
NO PLANS TO BUY 81
N120
N138
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Intention to buy in the future amongst non-owners
is quite encouraging at 27.
N26
PLANS TO BUY 15
PLANS TO BUY 27
NO PLANS TO BUY 85
NO PLANS TO BUY 73
N115
N259
PLANS TO BUY 30
PLANS TO BUY 19
WELL- COVERED 46
NOT WELL- COVERED 53
NO PLANS TO BUY 70
NO PLANS TO BUY 81
N120
N138
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On average, insurance owners are covered for
between 80-100k. Those who think they are well
covered averages 100-200k in coverage.
Question Now, thinking of all the personal
insurance policies you currently have, how much
in total are you covered for death cover
only? Base Among insurance owners (N259)
Definitely well-covered Probably
well-covered May or may not be
well-covered Probably not well-covered Definite
ly not well-covered
Well-covered 46
Not well-covered 54
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About a quarter of insurance owners also do not
know how much they are covered.
Question Now, thinking of all the personal
insurance policies you currently have, how much
in total are you covered for death cover
only? Base Among insurance owners (N259)
Definitely well-covered Probably
well-covered May or may not be
well-covered Probably not well-covered Definite
ly not well-covered
Well-covered 46
Not well-covered 54
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The amount of coverage is felt to be sufficient
for only 4-7 years. Those who are well covered
are a bit more positive, thinking they have
enough to last 8-10 years.
Question How long do you think the death cover
amount will cover your family/ beneficiaries? Base
Among insurance owners (N259)
Definitely well-covered Probably
well-covered May or may not be
well-covered Probably not well-covered Definite
ly not well-covered
Well-covered 46
Not well-covered 54
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Qualitative InsightThere is a lack of knowledge
about what is sufficient.

• When consumers think about how much coverage is
  sufficient for their family, they do not have
  clear parameters for determining what amount will
  be sufficient.
• Most of them take into consideration household
  expenses BUT they are unsure if this is a good
  gauge because they reason that their family will
  likely adjust their lifestyle depending on the
  household income.
• My family will not live so lavishly anymore
  should anything happen to me. Female, life
  insurance owner

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Qualitative InsightConsumers are regularly
reminded by agents that they are not covered
sufficiently. However, sufficiency is considered
by some to be quite unattainable.

• Agents give the impression that they will always
  tell a customer that their coverage is probably
  not enough. They will reason out and calculate a
  bloated figure (like 10 times ones annual
  income).
• Who has that amount of money 10 times your
  annual income?! Female life insurance owner

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Non-owners (29 of population)
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Meanwhile, non-owners are skewed to the younger
and single. They also tend to be from lower
income groups.
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Cost is a key concern for non-owners.
Question What are the reasons why you do not own
any insurance (besides those bought by your
employer)? Base Amongst non-owners (115)

It's too expensive Insurance is not important, no
reason to get it It's not necessary or worth
doing It's too hard to understand/confusing I
don't trust insurance companies It's too much
hassle to get It's not worth of good value CPF is
sufficient to cover me Insurance is not worth
investing I am well-covered by my Employer Don't
know
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Only about a quarter claim to have plans to buy.
Cost is again cited as the key deterrent.
Question Using a scale of 1 to 5 where 5 means
Definitely have plans to buy and 1 means
Definitely have no plans to buy, please tell me
if you have any plans to get insurance? Question
What are the reasons why you have no plans of
buying insurance? Base Amongst non-owners (115)
Definitely have plans to buy Probably have
plans to buy May/May not have plans to
buy Probably have no plans to buy Definitely
have no plans to buy
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73
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Qualitative InsightMoney is definitely a key
concern for non-owners of insurance currently.

• Money is Never Enough
• A real barrier why many have not bought or do not
  plan to buy life insurance again is that they say
  they simply have no money for it.
• They have financial commitments such as housing,
  car, and credit card loans which need to be paid
  along with their daily expenses. Because of
  this, there is no urgent need to buy a life
  insurance policy.
• Next to these more urgent necessities, a life
  insurance is seen to be less important and less
  urgent.
• While they understand that life insurance is
  important, they see it as something that can wait
  when they are financially better off.

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Qualitative InsightAnother deterrent we saw in
the interviews is that of a lack of understanding
of how much is required.

• Determining how much money they can set aside for
  their monthly premium is a big hurdle that many
  need to overcome.
• Many of them say that, at most, they can commit
  100-200 monthly or 10-20 of their monthly
  income.
• Perhaps there is a need to break-down the
  premiums in bite-size pieces (i.e. How much do
  they need to set aside per day? How many chicken
  rice meals is that equivalent to?) to help allay
  fears and apprehensions about insurance premiums.

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Qualitative InsightInsurance is a grudge
purchase.

• Life Insurance is Anti-Joy
• The resistance against life insurance stems from
  the attitude among some that money needs to be
  enjoyed. Many say they want to enjoy life and
  their earnings when asked why they have no plans
  to buy (more) life insurance.
• The idea of scrimping so much on their finances
  (by including life insurance in their long list
  of expenses) turns off many respondents,
  especially because this is probably money they
  will never see in their lifetime.
• They see life insurance as a pain!
• They have no clear appreciation of the benefits
  that life insurance offers and why these benefits
  can only be reaped over the long term.

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Qualitative InsightThere is also a perceived
lack of tangibles in buying insurance.

Every month, you pay such a big amount then at
60 or 70 years old, you pass away. What do you
see? You see nothing! Male, Insurance
Non-Owner I do not see the actual picture how
insurance is going to help because you are
talking about monthly contributions and then
these contributions are quite big, depends on how
much you want at the end of the day. So
sometimes I do the calculations whether it is
worth that amount then it just goes away. I
forget about it. Male, Insurance Non-Owner

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Qualitative InsightThere is also a perceive
lack of tangibles in buying insurance. (contd)

Insurance is not something tangible. You cannot
go out and say, Hey, I got 6 policies. Im
covered for 12 times my annual income. Nobody
will be impressed. But if you have a fancy car,
the flash factor is there. I think thats
important. Male, Insurance Owner If I totally
stop wakeboarding and I totally stop clubbing,
suddenly I have a few hundred dollars extra a
month, and I can put that into buying insurance.
So, the point is, do I want to stop it to that
extent? Male, Insurance Owner Because Ive
worked hard for the money so I think Im entitled
to spend it the way I like to. Sometimes I do
overspend. You like something, you buy it.
Male, Insurance Non-Owner

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Qualitative InsightOther deterrents include
consumers thinking they can get around it.

• Cash is King
• Non-owners of life insurance believe that being
  cash-rich is more important than having an
  insurance. By keeping their money in a bank,
  they reason that they have easy access to it.
• They cannot rationalise the need to lock-in their
  funds for a life insurance policy. Their
  thinking is that
• Its my money, why dont I have access to it?
  Why cant I take it out if I suddenly need it?
  Male, non-insurance owner

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Qualitative InsightThey fall back on cash.

If I can, I will save as much as possible. Like
1,000, 2,000. With this amount, I believe it
is so much better than insurance. Insurance
takes time to claim. But if I say, Im really
gone, next day, (my family) can just go to the
bank and withdraw all my money out. Even my CPF
they can claim it. Female, Insurance,
Non-Owner Im not a person who believes in
insurance. Im a person who believes in cash. I
wouldnt put insurance as a fallback plan in case
anything were to happen to me. What I believe is
hard cash. Insurance you still have to go
through the claims and stuff whereas cash you can
have it any time. Because I do hear stories from
my friends about the difficulty of getting
claims. Male, Insurance Non-Owner

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Qualitative InsightHowever, these people are
open to talking about investments.

• Anti-Life Insurance BUT Pro-Investments
• Some non-owners believe that it is better to put
  their money in investments rather than life
  insurance. They feel that getting higher returns
  for their money is more important than death
  cover.
• These customers are clearly investment-savvy and
  are aware of investment-linked insurance plans.
  However, their feeling is that returns offered by
  these plans are not as good as other investment
  products that they are aware of.

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Qualitative InsightInvestments provide
something tangible and more flexible.

When you look at insurance, most of the
instruments tend to tie you down for a fairly
long period of time and I guess its not as easy
to just switch your investments around as if you
were investing in other instruments, that perhaps
would have a shorter timeline. Female,
Insurance Owner For me, investments are quite
straightforward whereas insurance has a lot of
plans. You have this and that in your insurance,
some have 4 components, others have 3. When you
invest, you know where you are investing your
money and how much money you are getting. More
straightforward. Male, Insurance Non-Owner

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Qualitative InsightThere is also a general
feeling that their dependents can look after
themselves.

• There is a general feeling that family members
  can take care of themselves should anything
  happen to the breadwinner. Thus, consumers do
  not think about how much coverage is sufficient.
• The prevailing feeling seems to be I will just
  leave a big enough sum of money that will help my
  family for a few years until they can be
  self-reliant again.
• This sentiment seems to be particularly strong
  among single respondents.

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Qualitative InsightWhilst they do not know how
much is needed, they do have intention of leaving
some money for their dependents.

At least, 100K for them. I know that a few
years down the road, they are still okay because
I still have 2 brothers. Although I am the
breadwinner, I still have brothers. I suppose
they can take care of my parents. Because Im
the owner of the house, so if something happens
to me, HDB will take care of my house. My car
will also go back to the financial company. As
for daily expenses, I believe 100K is not a very
huge amount but a few years should be all right.
They should also learn to be independent.
Female, Insurance, Non-Owner I believe they (my
family) will have the ability to support
themselves. They dont need me to support them.
Its probably just something extra for them the
insurance coverage. Something like, oh sorry I
cant be around to support you anymore but this
is something from me. Male, Insurance Non-Owner

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Lapsed owners (7 of population) Note that due
to the small base (N26), results are to be read
indicatively only. Charts will be included as
part of the appendix.
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What else did we learn about the Life Insurance
Market?
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Qualitative InsightThey know they need it.
They know the benefits and relevance of life
insurance.

• The Relevance of Life Insurance
• The importance of life insurance is understood
  amongst all segments, even amongst non-owners of
  life insurance. They are aware that life
  insurance is protection for their loved ones
  should anything happen to them.
• The difference between life insurance owners and
  non-owners is that owners see it as a more urgent
  necessity while non-owners do not. Non-owners
  feel that life insurance is something that can
  wait.

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Qualitative InsightCurrent life insurance
owners tend to believe that insurance is a
necessity.

• Insurance Believers
• Current life insurance owners are convinced that
  they made the right decision by buying a life
  insurance. They believe that non-owners of life
  insurance are either arrogant they believe
  they can go on working forever, that nothing bad
  will happen to them or, they simply do not have
  the means to buy a life insurance.
• The challenge amongst life insurance owners,
  therefore, is to make them take the next step to
  ensure they have sufficient coverage.

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Qualitative InsightThere is a lot of education
to be done still.

• Mis-informed Customers
• There seems to be so much mis-information about
  life insurance among both owners and non-owners.
• What is scary is that there are consumers who are
  not even aware they have the wrong information
  and they spread this to others.

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Qualitative InsightThe planning part of
insurance is not appreciated.

To me, insurance companies are taking our money
to roll. One person contributes 100, so 10
persons is already a thousand dollars. In
Singapore there are 4 million people, about 70
will be 2.8 million of them. Each one
contributes 100, its a huge amount of money.
So why should I contribute to them? I rather put
my money in a bank. The interest is not
fantastic but the money is still with me.
Female, Insurance Non-Owner Insurance gives you
only the 100 claims upon death. So I tell
(agents) off. Are you trying to curse me to
death? Female, Insurance Non-Owner What I know
is the minimum premium right now at the age of
19, 20 is about 200, 300 per month. Why not
just try to lower the premium? Female,
Insurance Non-Owner

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Qualitative InsightAnd then there are the
un-informed.

• Too Much Information
• There are also those who openly admit that they
  do not know much about insurance or that there is
  too much information out there, they are not sure
  anymore what to believe in.
• Consumers are confused about life insurance
  products and are finding it hard to differentiate
  one product from the next.

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Qualitative InsightThey are yearning for a good
product to come along.

I have not chanced upon a good insurance policy
yet. The knowledge I have now is my past
encounter with insurance. I have no idea what
the recent developments are in insurance. Male,
Insurance Owner I think the only information we
get is when we are approached by the sales
personnel, thats the only information they give
to us, at the point of sale. Female, Insurance
Owner Sometimes you have accident coverage, at
the same time you also have savings I cant
remember so many things within the package and
there are so many of them. Sometimes its too
many for you to remember. Male, Insurance
Non-Owner

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So, what did we learn?
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Protection is recognized as the main benefit of
life insurance. This only needs to be
re-inforced and reminded.

• Key to note, whilst not everyone has life
  insurance, all segments recognise and understand
  its importance. Even non lapsed owners of life
  insurance are aware that life insurance is
  protection for their loved ones should anything
  happen to them.
• The difference between life insurance owners and
  non lapsed owners is that owners see it as a
  more urgent necessity while the latter do not.
  Non lapsed owners feel that life insurance is
  something that can wait. Demographically, owners
  are also a more affluent group.
• But, whilst they agree on the benefits of life
  insurance, most do not have clear parameters as
  to how much coverage is sufficient.
• In fact, even those who openly admit that they
  feel theyre not well-covered are not convinced
  that they should be buying more.

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Whilst two-thirds of Singaporeans are insured,
most do not feel they have sufficient coverage.

• 65 are current owners of some form of insurance.
  When asked whether they are well-covered, almost
  half of this number openly admit that they are
  not.
• Despite this, however, most do not have plans to
  increase their insurance coverage, primarily due
  to price concerns. And whilst life insurance
  policies too expensive price appears to be the
  main hurdle, other barriers revolve around
• Mis-information
• Lack of education
• Lack of understanding/ appreciation of the
  benefits of life insurance
• Need for friendlier agents or advisors
• Need for something tangible from life insurance.

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Even those who do not have insurance are open to
buying, but cost is a main concern.

• Meanwhile, non-owners comprise 29 of the market.
  Cost is a main concern amongst this group who
  are less familiar with the benefits of life
  insurance.
• They need to understand the benefits and the
  tangibles of life insurance better.

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Educate current life insurance owners

• Current life insurance owners understand the
  benefits and importance of life insurance. These
  messages just need to be reinforced when
  communicating to them.
• Teach them financial and protection planning.
  Most do not know how much coverage they need.
  Even those who think they are well covered are in
  fact, very far off the mark.
• Consider using an investment angle to encourage
  them to increase their coverage.

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Reach out to non-owners

• Non-owners of life insurance do not understand
  the benefits and importance of life insurance.
  For them, there are more important priorities in
  life. Benefits and importance need to be further
  promoted with this group. Educate them by
  speaking their language.
• Friendlier advisors will work well in bridging
  this gap.
• Correct any misconceptions of life insurance.
• Address cost concerns. Demonstrate value.
• Again, consider an investment angle when talking
  to them.

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THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
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