Kiwis 2x more likely to pick car insurance over life/health

The FSC’s latest Money & You report showed that while 98% of homeowners insure their property and 95% of car owners protect their vehicles, four out of five New Zealanders aren’t insuring their income against sickness or disability. The key issue appears to be cost.

When respondents were asked why they don’t have insurance, the majority (67%) said it was too expensive. Insurance dropoff is also increasing.

When asked why they’d cancelled their insurance, the majority of former health/medical, total and permanent disability, income protection, and trauma/critical illness policyholders cited increased cost of living pressures. This reason was also high among former life insurance holders (34%), while 35% said they no longer saw the value in it.

Among health insurance holders, one third have downgraded their coverage due to cost-of-living pressures, with another 22% seriously considering cancelling their policies altogether. Those earning under $50,000 are bearing the brunt - 37% have already downgraded their health cover.