Less than one-third of Canadians lack appropriate insurance coverage to help them weather the financial shock of an unforeseen crisis, according to a new report Edward Jones released on Tuesday.
In addition, even though 63% of Canadians say they have some type of insurance, their coverage doesn’t necessarily extend to unexpected circumstances such as a sudden illness, disability or an accident.
“While Canadians may think they are protected, there is a gap between what many people have and what they might actually need to cover a serious issue,” says James McKeown, senior insurance specialist at Edward Jones, in a statement. “In the same way that doctors recommend an annual health check-up, we recommend an annual insurance check-up with a financial expert.”
In addition, 48% survey participants believe they don’t have sufficient funds to foot the entire bill — for both expected and unexpected costs — were they to find themselves unable to work.
Edward Jones’ report also finds that only 26% of survey participants could claim they had reviewed their insurance needs in the past year. That figure, the report notes, seems to point to a lack of understanding among Canadians of how much coverage they need.
For example, about a quarter of Canadians have their own term life insurance and only 18% have whole or universal life insurance.
Leger conducted the online survey of 1,564 Canadians from Oct. 10–13, 2016 on behalf of Edward Jones.
Photo copyright: rosinka79/123RF