1 out 3 working Malaysians are uninsured

16% of them have said they have no plans to get insurance or takaful.

One out of three working Malaysians in the prime financial planning age have no form of personal protection, a survey by Zurich Malaysia revealed.

This is despite 75% of Malaysians not being able to raise RM1k ($211.75) in an emergency, according to Bank Negara Malaysia, and 6.62 million Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) members aged under 55 having savings of less than RM10k ($2.12k).

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Additionally, 16% of those who are uninsured have said they have no plans whatsoever to set aside any money for insurance or takaful.

The survey found that the cause of this is rampant misconception and misunderstanding about protection.

21% of Malaysian respondents believe that protection provided by employers is sufficient whilst 14% said that insurance or takaful is not necessary. Meanwhile, 9% have a bad perception of insurance and takaful, making them harder to convince about investing in their future.

Malaysians also do not have enough information on insurance and takaful (22%). 18% said they lack understanding of the purpose and benefit of insurance and takaful.

These findings were part of Zurich Malaysia’s survey commissioned in late 2021 titled ‘Impact of Pandemic on Protection’ involving 1,201 respondents nationwide. This group of 25 to 40-year-old working adults make up 41% (491 respondents) of the total sample size, and 30% of this group stated that they do not have protection.