One in three prime working-age Malaysians do not have insurance, while many have “poor” perception of insurance, a study by Zurich Malaysia found.

According to the insurer, insurance remains quite low on the list of priorities for many Malaysians, with 30% of respondents aged 25 to 40 having no form of personal protection, while 16% of them said they have no plans whatsoever to set aside money for insurance or takaful.

These findings were part of a survey commissioned in late 2021, titled Impact of Pandemic on Protection, with 1,201 respondents nationwide. The subset of 25- to 40-year-old working adults made up 41% (491 respondents) of the total sample size.

Zurich Malaysia said 21% of those surveyed felt that the insurance provided by their employer was sufficient to protect them, while 14% said they did not need insurance. Another 9% have a poor perception of insurance and takaful, which will make it difficult to convince them to invest in financial protection products.

“The findings highlight the important role that life insurance agents and takaful advisors play in ensuring understanding among the public,” the insurer said. “This is critical to increasing the insurance and takaful penetration rate and reducing the protection gap towards a sustainable way of life.”