Bhubaneswar pips 14 other cities to top in term insurance ownership: Study

However, the city isn't financially geared to deal with critical illnesses as 54% of its people feel their savings would last less than a year in case any such ailment struck

Bhubaneswar, the number one Smart City has aced the pan-India ranking of cities in term insurance ownership and scored over the national average in protection against future uncertainties.

In its 'India Protection Quotient Survey', leading private insurer Max Life places Bhubaneswar over 14 other cities in owning term insurance, with 64 per cent of its population aware of the cover's benefits. The survey covering 4,566 respondents across six metros and nine Tier-I cities, sought to fathom the country's positioning in terms of life and term insurance ownership.

IPQ manifests the degree to which Indians feel protected from future uncertainties, on a scale of zero to 100.

Bhubaneswar’s protection quotient of 36 out of 100 betters the national average of 35 for urban India, though Delhi leads the pack with an IPQ score of 40. Odisha's capital city outranks Jaipur, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Bhopal, Pune and Ludhiana on this count. Also, Bhubaneswar boasts of the highest proportion of term insurance ownership, with 40 per cent of its respondents in the survey having taken such a plan.

Bhubaneswar's growing clout in IT and education has led to the city's ascendancy in rankings.

“By virtue of Bhubaneswar being an emerging IT and education hub, the city ranks at par on the life insurance protection and knowledge index of our ‘India Protection Quotient Survey’. This rapidly developing city has outperformed other leading cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, etc, in life insurance offtake. Surprisingly, 50 per cent of those insurance owners have term insurance, which is the highest compared to any other city in the country. Having said that, there is definitely scope to increase the number of insured individuals in Bhubaneswar as term insurance is the cheapest and most fundamental form of financial protection. We’re certain that the survey’s compelling findings will help bring about change in the underlying attitudes and overall behavior of people around life insurance”, said V Viswanand, deputy managing director, Max Life Insurance.

In the 'Knowledge Index', the degree to which Indians are aware of life insurance products, on a scale of zero to 100, Bhubaneswar has fared well with a score of 40, exceeding the national average of 39. Delhi clocked the highest score at 58 with Ludhiana languishing at the bottom (with a score of eight).

Seventy eight per cent of Bhubaneswar's residents own life insurance, making it among the more insured cities in the country. Sixty seven per cent of the city's women possess life insurance products as opposed to 74 per cent for men. In term insurance ownership, women rank higher with 27 per cent compared to 23 per cent in case of men.

Despite a slew of positives, Bhubaneswar is not financially geared to deal with critical illnesses as 54 per cent of the people feel their savings would last less than a year in case such an ailment struck.

Nationwide, people are grossly under prepared to cope with financial instability caused by life events and India’s ‘Financial Protection Quotient’ is pegged at a mere 35 on the scale of 100. The low offtake coupled with lack of awareness and ownership of term insurance is contributing to people feeling under protected.