While interest in protection insurance is growing, far more employees opt to protect themselves via an emergency savings pot, according to a report from Close Brothers.
The survey, Expecting the unexpected: a spotlight on preparing for a crisis, revealed that three quarters of employees had access to an emergency saving pot and 61% have actively saved more into these pots due to the pandemic.
However, only 37% had life insurance, 20% had health insurance, 16% had critical illness protection and just 6% of UK employees had income protection.
The findings also showed that while 90% of workers in large organisations had an insurance policy in the last 12 months, the most common of these were car (69%) and home insurance (68%), with far fewer being to protect their financial, mental and physical health.
Opinium questioned 2,000 UK based employees working for companies with 200 or more employees for the Close Brothers research.
However, the report indicated an improved picture on earlier surveys – in 2019 just 25% of employees had life insurance, 12% had critical illness protection, and 8% income protection.
Jeanette Makings, head of financial education at Close Brothers, said: “The Covid pandemic has put UK employees under a huge amount of financial strain.
“But diamonds are forged under huge pressure and all the signs are that UK employees are going to emerge more aware and focused on improving and sustaining their financial resilience.
“It’s important to remember that not all protection products will be needed or even suitable for every UK employee.
“The key is understanding what protection products and measures are available and how to assess their value as part of an individual’s own financial plan to provide financial resilience and peace of mind.”