• 76% urban Indians are fitness conscious
• 62% are anxious about their mental health and wellbeing
• 35% purchased critical illness rider; significant sign of enhancing life insurance

Max Life Insurance Co. Ltd (“Max Life”) in association with Kantar recently unveiled the India Protection Quotient 4.0 survey. Tapping 5,729 respondents across 25 Indian cities [between 10 December 2021 to 14 January 2022], the survey was carried out during the recent wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A prolonged pandemic has spurred urban Indians to focus on their health and wellbeing. According to the survey, 76% respondents are paying attention to their fitness regimen and when purchasing life insurance 49% seek health and fitness apps. This also indicates changing consumer preferences with majority expecting a range of holistic services from insurers including tax planning, financial counselling and dedicated claims management services to ease claim settlements.

IPQ 4.0 also highlights a shift in daily lifestyle choices owing to Covid-19, with 55% consumers focusing on regular exercise, 54% consuming home-cooked/healthy meals, 47% following a diet plan and 42% undergoing routine health checkups.

Commenting on the findings, V. Viswanand, Deputy Managing Director, Max Life said “While urban India’s sense of financial security and awareness grew during the pandemic, maintaining a healthy living remained a critical aspect for financial protection. IPQ 4.0 brings some unique insights into the growing and evolving new-age consumers with a sizeable base seeking health and fitness benefits from their life insurance policies. This is an avenue for insurers to create customized products and contribute in adding further value to the lives of policyholders.”

The following findings reveal insights that highlight urban India’s shift across health and wellness priorities and anxieties studied by India Protection Quotient 4.0:

• Urban Indians seek health & fitness benefits from life insurers

As per IPQ 4.0, 49% or nearly 1 in every 2 urban Indians look for a health/fitness app that monitors their daily regime and offers associated benefits/discounts. This reflects a significant trend of connected wellness offerings for consumers today.

• 6 in 10 anxious about mental health and wellbeing

Personal well-being (62%) emerged as a key concern for urban India with the pandemic straining mental and physical health. This was followed by sustaining lifestyle and expenses with current savings (60%) and financial security with the untimely death of the family breadwinner (59%).

• Steady increase in Critical Illness (CI) rider purchase

The survey also revealed 35% respondents owning a CI rider as compared to 33% in IPQ 3.0 Express. While this is a notable improvement, scope remains for increasing rider ownership across urban India.

Disclaimer:

The study is conducted in top 25 Urban metro, Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities; hence, its findings are representative of metro, Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities of Urban India only.

• Metro – Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai
• Tier 1 – Ludhiana, Jaipur, Lucknow, Patna, Bhubaneshwar, Vizag, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Pune
• Tier 2 – Dehradun, Moradabad, Guwahati, Bokaro, Kolhapur, Jamnagar, Raipur, Ujjain, Hubli-Dharwad, Tiruchirappalli
• IPQ 3.0 Express vs IPQ 4.0 (digital versions) data comparison is amongst 25 markets only [6 metros, 9 Tier 1 and 10 Tier 2]
• The minimum sample to conclude any findings of the study is 270 with an error margin of +-5.964%