The research discovered that of those LGBT community members that have concerns with financial services companies, less than a third (28%) trust insurers and 23% of responents said that they did not know a good company from a bad one. Further, findings showed that less than one in four (22%) believed that insurers did not actually care about the LGBT community and the imagery they used did not have any resonance with their lifestyle (23%).
Top ten reasons as to why the LGBT community do not take insurance more seriously
The research pointed to a number of possible reasons why the LGBT community is put off, and lacks trust in, the financial services industry. Almost one in four (24%) gay men feel insurers offer services which take no account of the LGBT community and their circumstances; one in five (20%) gay men also had issue with premiums being more expensive for LGBT people, and 9% of women feel uncomfortable revealing their sexuality to a stranger in a call centre. Moreover, 28% of gay men felt the images used for marketing purposes had no connection with them and their lifestyle.
This survey was conducted across the UK and threw up significant city differences. For example, in Brighton 45% of the community do not trust the financial service industry (compared to 15% in Edinburgh for example). A third (33%) of LGBT Brightonians also have no resonance with pictures used in campaigns and adverts, compared with 13% in Manchester. One in five (20%) of the lesbian and gay population in London believe that insurers don’t care about the community, whereas over one on four (27%) think this in Brighton. Furthermore, more than a third (36%) of the community in Brighton said issues came from not being able to afford insurance policies (compared with only 10% in Birmingham). On closer inspection of Birmignham almost a third (32%) of the LGBT community said that they wouldn’t know a good insurer from a bad one, compared with 22% in Edinburgh and London.
Heidi McCormack, CEO of Emerald Life commented: “The research clearly shows there is a learning curve for the financial services industry. Providing a customer service should be based around knowing your audience and being able to adapt to situations and circumstances no matter a person’s lifestyle - the building blocks of trust. It could be suggested that there is a sense of trust, when there is a sense of understanding and perhaps this is where the industry can improve and fill the insurance gap that is felt by so many of the LGBT community.”
“What the LGBT community expects and deserve is an insurer that presents a personal service with products tailored to needs and circumstances of the lifestyles that they lead. At Emerald we add that personal touch by removing barriers and having no assumptions. We have made sure that the LGBT community has a loyal and trusted organisation to turn to when it comes to protecting the things and the people that matter the most.”
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