Consumers are more likely to say they have shopped for disability insurance at the workplace than they are to say they have shopped for coverage through other channels.
Analysts at LIMRA, Windsor, Conn., have published figures on workplace and non-workplace income protection shoppers in a report based on a survey of consumers who said they had “seriously shopped” for disability insurance over the past 24 months.
What Do They Want? | ||
Disability insurance shoppers’ reasons for buying coverage | ||
Workplace shoppers | Other shoppers | |
To replace another disability policy | 15% | 10% |
To continue saving for retirement | 10% | 16% |
To continue saving for college | 10% | 6% |
Source: LIMRA, Windsor, Conn. |
The numbers of consumers who participated in the survey was not immediately available.
The percentage of consumers who said they looked for disability coverage at work was almost twice as high as the percentage who said they had shopped for coverage through any other channel, such as going on the Web or meeting with a sales rep outside of work.
About 70% of the survey participants who shopped for coverage at work bought coverage; only 59% of the participants who shopped for coverage elsewhere ended up buying insurance.
But disability insurance is famous as being a product that insurers want to sell to consumers who don’t want it, and LIMRA analysts found evidence that antiselection could affect workplace-based disability insurance programs.