Over 50% Indians Not Prepared For Financial Emergency

Over 50 per cent of Indians are not prepared to face financial emergencies related to lifestyle diseases, a SBI Life comprehensive Financial Immunity survey shows. The key findings of the survey include:

1) 8 in 10 Indians (78%) strongly feel that stress/anxiety affects mental & physical immunity

2) Over 50% Indians not sufficiently prepared to face financial emergency related to lifestyle diseases

Top 3 financial worries:

a) Financial security against critical illnesses

b) Family member getting infected by any lifestyle disease or Covid-19

c) Job or income loss

3) 8 in 10 Indians (80%) associate Life Insurance with 'Safeguarding the family's future'

4) More than 6 in 10 Indians (61%) have bought or intend to buy critical illness plan/ cover to address the rising treatment costs and to avoid financial pressure on the family

5) 7 in 10 Indians (75%) not having a critical illness cover, intend to buy one in the next three months

SBI Life Insurance survey provided deep insights into consumer predispositions towards Financial Immunity in a post covid world. SBI Life commissioned the 'Understanding consumer attitude towards Financial Immunity' survey with The Nielsen Company, reaching out to over 2,400 consumers across 13 key cities covering the length and breadth of India.

"Understandably, in the wake of COVID-19, maintaining personal physical immunity has been on the fore, with almost every respondent confirming to have increased focus on physical immunity in some way. In fact, 8 out of 10 Indians are aware that 'stress' lowers mental and physical immunity.

The survey further attempts to better understand the cause of stress, by enquiring about the top financial worries of the consumer today. The top three reasons for stress are attributed to (1) Financial Security against critical illness, (2) Family member getting infected by any lifestyle disease or Covid-19 and (3) Job or income loss. The reasons for financial worries cited by consumers underpin the stress caused by financial management of lifestyle diseases. Alarmingly, over 50% Indians are not sufficiently prepared to face any financial emergencies related to lifestyle diseases," a release stated.

On the brighter side, the pandemic has brought in a realization on the need for protection, with 7 out of 10 Indians who currently do not own a Critical Illness cover, explicitly expressing an intention to buy one in the next three months. Another encouraging insight thrown up by the survey, is that 8 out of 10 consumers purchase Life and Health insurance with a clear motive of safeguarding family's future.

Speaking about the survey findings, Mr. M Anand, President - Zone II, SBI Life said, "Over the last six months, individuals and families across the length and breadth of our nation, have shown tremendous resilience in coping with the pandemic. Despite the challenging environment, SBI Life's consumer study on 'Financial Immunity' highlights the reassuring sentiment on the need to build a robust Financial Immunity to safeguarded one's future and be protected from financial adversities." He further added, "At SBI Life, we strongly believe that gaining financial immunity rests at the foundation of achieving one's life objectives."