Campaign to tackle under-insurance launched

Auckland financial advice consultant, and former life company chief executive, David Whyte, is seeking support for a campaign to tackle New Zealanders’ under-insurance problem.

Thursday, April 18th 2013, 5:44PM

by Susan Edmunds

David Whyte, of DCW Management, has launched the Campaign for Financial Protection. He says his first goal is to raise money to pay a marketing firm to build a long-term strategy for engaging government, industry and educational establishments.

He has been spurred on by recent reports, including that from the Financial Services Council, which found that New Zealand ranked 28 out 31 OECD countries for personal insurance product penetration.

More than 40% of households had severely inadequate life cover for the primary earner. But only 11% of New Zealanders thought they needed income protection insurance.

Whyte said: “I believe something more needs to be done to raise awareness. The devastation caused by no or low financial protection is a community issue which needs elevation by government, the industry, the media, and the educational authorities.”

He said 60% of the New Zealand population did not have access to a financial adviser and did not understand the value proposition.  “At the moment, with no context for a relationship, and no visible means of creating a connection, these folk will either land up at the bank's insurance services by default, or remain as they are - without adequate financial protection.”

More information can be found at www.financial-protection.org or in the April issue of ASSET magazine.

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