More New Zealanders are taking up insurance policies because of the recession, a survey has found.
The Life Matters survey of more than 1000 New Zealanders,conducted by AIG Life, found that respondents rated redundancy as a higher risk than any health risk.
As a result, income protection insurance had risen by 77 percent in less than two years.
Twenty-three percent of respondents now had this policy, compared with only 13 percent in both 2005 and 2007, the survey found.
There had also been an increase in trauma and critical illness insurance, with double the amount of people having this protection compared with 2007.
When it came to life insurance, 54 percent had this policy, up from 48 percent in 2007 and 38 percent in 2005.
AIG Life's head of marketing Mike Loftus said the survey revealed a great deal about New Zealanders' financial positions in the recession.
"Kiwis have clearly become acutely aware of risk as the economy has declined, and this is reflected in the level of take-up of personal insurance, particularly the types of insurance that have been previously under-used.
"Since the 2007 survey there has been a striking increase in the number of people taking income protection and critical illness protection in particular, which suggests that people are becoming more conscious of areas of vulnerability, particularly their income and their health," Mr Loftus said.
The survey found that 26 percent of New Zealanders would be able to pay their bills for less than one month if their main source of income stopped.
