Abstract

The present study designed to assess the perceptions and attitude of residents of Pakistan towards life insurance. The main purpose of this qualitative assessment was to explore people’s willingness to purchase a life insurance policy, potential for this sector in the country and hurdles preventing people from purchasing life insurance to address their needs in future. Data was collected from general public of Faisalabad. Eight focus group sessions were conducted. It was found that majority of the respondents were not in favor of life insurance policies. Several factors were identified which were found to be associated with the lack of utilizing life insurance policies. Only a small portion of people were found to be interested in the purchase of life insurance policies. Small number of policy holders was found to be associated with the lack of awareness, lack of education, mistrust, financial conditions, socio-cultural and religious factors. Complicated policies and untrained staff of the insurance companies were also found to be serving as primary causes of lacking interest by people in life insurance policies. Cases of deception and provision of incomplete information to the customers were too reported. Limited and ineffective marketing for the awareness of benefits of life insurance policies were linked to a low number of purchases. Revised policies with improvement in awareness activities and staff training were recommended for the development of life insurance sector.