Enabling people to maintain a high degree of mental wellbeing throughout their lives brings benefits for individuals, employers and society. Until recently, however, there has been a certain reluctance in society to speak openly about mental health issues and suitable responses. Re/insurance can play a vital role in improving individuals' resilience against mental health issues by offering them effective risk protection and solutions.
With this in mind, Swiss Re recently conducted a global consumer investigation into mental wellbeing, covering seven important markets. We wanted to find out whether consumers are interested in any kind of mental health protection, how re/ insurers could meet such needs and what the main challenges are. On an overarching level, the investigation revealed that there is a substantial consumer segment that sees value in insurance products covering mental wellbeing. Millennials living in urban areas, especially those with young children, constitute the largest group.
However, we found that a large proportion of interested consumers (71%) are not aware of the mental health protection available in existing products and that many of those who are aware have had negative experiences when contacting their insurer (impersonal service, having to reiterate their case, lack of trust). We have identified the key demands that consumers have for best-practice insurance solutions for mental health issues, including a supportive claims process.
We also analysed the implications of COVID-19 and found that almost half of all surveyed consumers are more concerned about mental wellbeing due to the pandemic and that many have said they will take the topic more seriously in the future.
We have summarised the main insights gained through our investigation and specifics on six markets in one publication. In addition, we have published five separate reports that describe the situation in the following Asian markets: South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Japan and (in 2020) Hong Kong.
