Advisers back govt intervention on insurance

The poll – conducted by ifa sister title Risk Adviser – found that 78.4 per cent of the 250 respondents agreed with the proposition that the government should introduce incentives for the take-up of personal life cover, compared to 21.6 per cent who opposed the proposal.

Speaking to Risk Adviser, Aaron Zelman of MediBroker said introducing an incentive to buy insurance could make a “significant difference” in tackling the nationwide underinsurance problem.

Mr Zelman added that a government co-payment such as a ‘first insurance owners grant’ would be a great benefit to encouraging more Australians to take up risk insurance.

However, Marshall Wealth and Investment Advisers principal Mark Marshall pointed out that introducing an incentive is not a suitable solution.

“There has to be a need before the consumer will properly engage,” Mr Marshall said. "For example, in most states of Australia, self-employed persons are not covered by their state’s workers compensation scheme.