On 19th of April 2023 National Traveller MABS launched a report in Exchange House on ‘An Exploratory Analysis of Insurance Exclusion among Travellers’. The report was authored by Dr Stuart Stamp, Independent Social Researcher & Research Associate, Department of Applied Social Studies, Maynooth University.
In this scoping enquiry which focuses specifically on Travellers, we sought the views of a range of Traveller groups and individuals, both to get their personal experience of insurance access and use, and their sense or perspective as to its relevance both to them and to the community as a whole. These enquiries, conducted to inform National Traveller MABS’ financial inclusion work, were carried out by way of emails, one to one interviews and focus groups. We take as our frame of reference the eleven different types of insurance outlined on the website of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), namely: Life; Home; Health; Motor vehicle; Serious illness; Income protection; Mortgage protection; Payment Protection (PPI); Pet; Gadget; and, Travel.
Findings
We find that a number of insurance services are currently of little relevance to Travellers as a result of the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the community as a whole. Examples here are serious illness, income protection and health, given persisting high levels of unemployment across the community. At the other end of the spectrum, widespread knowledge and take-up of motor insurance is identifiable. In between these two extremes lie a number of products that are used by some Travellers in certain situations. Examples here include mortgage protection and home insurance (owner occupiers), gadget insurance (electrical goods/ mobile phone purchasers), travel insurance (those taking a holiday overseas), pet insurance (owners of dogs, cats and horses), and death benefit insurance (credit union member borrowers). There remains, however, a sense that many are excluded from access and use for various reasons.
Recommendations
Overall four themes emerge. First, there is clearly widespread lack of awareness of the existence of many types of insurance, compounded in some cases by a lack of clarity - and sometimes misunderstanding - of what these products entail and when they may or may not be worthy of consideration. Thus it would be useful for National Traveller MABS both to incorporate an insurance dimension into its community education activities and to engage specifically with the CCPC on this issue given its public information/education remit. Second, those employed and/or living in owner occupied accommodation are seemingly much more likely to be connected into the financial services “grid”, both in terms of information on - and possession of - insurance. For the majority of Travellers not in these situations, a conduit for accessing sensitive, trusted, independent information on relevant insurance products might be explored. Such a mechanism could also provide advice to the former group should they need it, and further perhaps to those offered an insurance option when purchasing certain types of consumer goods, particularly mobile phones. Third, there are suggestions that increased cost appears to be a factor in relation to motor insurance where an address signifies the applicant to be a Traveller applicant. This is a matter worthy of further research and one that might be explored with relevant industry and regulatory bodies. Finally, access to home insurance appears to be an issue for those in mobile home accommodation, a situation which could also be further investigated and raised with the appropriate authorities.
Conclusions
While the latter are important policy issues, the overriding issue emerging from the scoping enquiry relates to real choice.By this we mean that Travellers should have the sources, means and information to make informed decisions about what is appropriate or not for themselves and their families in terms of insurance. Among the majority of respondents, we got the sense that insurance is not something seen as being of relevance to their lives, unless they are in full-time employment, house owners or specifically confronted with it when purchasing an item or service. For those not in such situations, creating awareness around relevant insurance possibilities, together with their potential benefits and limitations, could help Travellers weigh up whether associated (immediate) costs are worth it or not given demands on current income and potential (longer-term) savings that may result. Creating greater awareness may also lead to the identification of further policy and practice issues requiring attention.
