What the Maltese think of insurance cover

Good news for car insurers - 81.5% of the Maltese who own a car are satisfied with their insurance policies and with the way they are treated by the insurance companies. When it comes to home insurance (which is taken by 49% of home owners), 68.7% never felt the need for a claim, and in fact only 6.1% of those insured are dissatisfied by the service they receive from their insurers.

These are some of the findings of the latest public opinion survey commissioned by The Sunday Times from sociologist Mario Vassallo. The survey sought to find out what the Maltese think on five major types of insurance coverage - motor vehicle, house, travel, life and health. As usual, 300 households in Malta and Gozo were interviewed by telephone for the survey, which was held between November 10 and 17.

Of the 300 respondents, 92% said they own, or contribute to, a car insurance policy, with those aged 51-65 reaching 98.6%.

Dissatisfaction with car insurance companies is highest among those aged 36-50 (23.6%), followed by those aged under 25 (22.5%).

The majority (51%) of those who take home insurance do so because they have a bank loan, which makes insurance obligatory. The main reasons for home insurance are to put one's mind at rest, fear of damage from bad weather and fear of thefts. Over half of those who do not take home insurance do so because they think it is very expensive; 30.7% because "it has no real use"; and 11.1% because the house does not belong to them.

More Maltese are travelling abroad. The survey found that 87.3% of them buy travel insurance; 91% of them consider the government levy of Lm5 on such insurance policies unfair.

The survey also found that almost two-thirds of the Maltese population is not covered by life insurance; only 35.7% are so covered, with the proportion of insured among those aged over 65 dipping to 23.9%. Of those who are insured, almost two-thirds (64.9%) said they took out a life policy because they had a bank loan; 20.6% wanted to provide security for their family.

Almost 82% of those who do not have life insurance say it is because it is too expensive.

Only 14% of respondents are covered by medical insurance, with 40.5% of them saying that it was because they preferred private hospitals. Again the main reason (66.3%) given by those who do not have medical insurance is that because they consider it expensive.

More than two-thirds (67.7%) of those who have medical insurance said that from their experience, medical practitioners charged them more than they would those who were not covered by insurance, knowing that it would be the insurance that would foot the bill.

Asked to comment on these findings, Professor Vassallo said: "The systematic covering of risk is one of the more important features of citizenship in modern societies, and in this respect the Maltese lag behind. Insurances are purchased mainly when law makes them compulsory.

"Naturally, insurance cover implies a cost, and many claim they cannot afford it. It could be the case, however, that many Maltese still rely on family solidarity to cover unforeseeable events, something that citizens of larger societies in which family ties are far less tight, can no longer do.

"Like everything else, this is a double-edged sword: the loss of traditional cohesion and family solidarity is bemoaned by many, as much as it is lauded by others who think that traditional society was oppressive. But risk coverage is fast becoming big business and its consumption a need. Sooner rather than later, the Maltese too will have to succumb to it as they experience the loss of traditional society, even if they do not admit the disenchantment that this implies!", Professor Vassallo concluded.