Factors for Not Buying Life Insurance Policies in a Developing Country: A Case of Bangladesh

This paper attempts to identify the factors responsible for not-buying life insurance policies by the households of a developing country in general - and Bangladesh in particular. The research need could be attributed by the very low per capita life insurance policy in developing countries in comparison to other developed countries of the world. This study identified l4 non-buying factors responsible for not buying life insurance policies by the people of Bangladesh. The most important factor is difficulty in continuation of insurance policy in the long run. The reason is explained by the financial insolvency of the people. The second important non-buying factor is claim settlement hurdle. These are followed by general belief of the people, family plan, controversial idea, government policy, behavior of the insurance agents, awareness of the people, income of the household, attachment with insurance, peer group influence, occupational risk, age of the potential insured, and lack of insurance information. The financial inability may not be changed overnight but can be made more flexible; however, the life insurance companies can improve the claim settlement services and procedures. The other factors can be improved through awareness development, education. seminar. symposiums, etc.