Master of Management student Natalie Wang, who is majoring in banking, says her research will help to understand what products people currently opt for, the drivers behind those decisions, how often they review policies and how important they feel it is to have cover.

"New Zealanders are lacking in life protection and I want to find out why," she says.

"There might be a lack of understanding about products, cultural factors, influence of family or friends who have made a claim or the ACC system meaning people choose not to take out personal insurance."

She is seeking 500 people to take part in an online survey to establish the factors that influence consumers' life insurance decisions.

Wang, who works as a business banking consultant and studies through the School of Economics and Finance, says there is a lack of awareness about life insurance.

"I also want to look at financial planning to see if people include it in their budget or think it should be part of the budget at all. People think about car insurance but many do not think about life insurance."

An estimated 93% of private motor vehicles are insured in New Zealand yet previous studies into the life insurance industry have found that two out of three New Zealand families have no life insurance cover or have inadequate cover. Furthermore almost half have no life, medical, income protection or critical care insurance at all.

The survey can be viewed here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3KPCC35