The coronavirus has made a lot of people reassess their financial priorities and goals, and UAE residents are no different.
Almost five in every 10 people (46%) indicated that life insurance was increasingly important to them in the current environment.
The YouGov survey of 1,000 UAE residents, commissioned by Zurich International Life, saw 51% flag savings as a key priority.
A third (32%) pointed to retirement planning, but this was a more common response among other survey participant.
‘But I’ll be fine…’
Walter Jopp, chief executive of Zurich in the Middle East, believes that the long-held belief of ‘it won’t happen to me’ has fundamentally changed because of coronavirus.
“The unprecedented nature of covid-19 with the rising rate of infections and the increasing death toll across the globe has altered the mindset of individuals,” he said.
“People are now coming to terms with the fact that the unexpected does happen and it can happen to anyone and everyone.”
Changing patterns
And it’s not just what people are looking to buy that is changing – but also how they buy it.
This includes financial services.
When asked about purchasing life insurance online, almost half said they were likely to buy a digital solution.
This number rose to almost 60% for high-income respondents.
But trust is the key factor; followed by affordability and then simplicity surrounding terms and conditions, documentation and processes.
Those least likely to buy life insurance online cited affordability as the main barrier.
Jopp added: “The current covid-19 environment has increased the importance of life insurance and changed the way that people want to buy cover.”
There are a number of providers already in the market, with Zurich launching its own digital life insurance solution, YourLife, in the UAE in 2018.
It offers immediate life cover of up to AED600,000 (£132,190, $163,340, €147,000) from only AED2 per day.
