Insurance provides a critical safety net, preventing households from falling into poverty by avoiding the damaging costs of emergencies.

It especially helps low-income people to avoid difficult, often devastating risk coping measures such as putting children to work,eating less food, or selling productive assets.

People do not wake up wanting insurance. Instead, they are concerned about the financial exposure risk they would have to bear to for example to cover the costs of a funeral or to pay for a ticket to visit their family in another town, state, region or country.

The problem we need to be fixing is how can we provide access to insurance for the 2 billion people globally who are not insured or who are under insured?

Access is not just about affordability. It is about much more.

Access includes servicing. If it is difficult and costly to access servicing, then we are blocking access.

Access includes underwriting. If it is complex, then we are blocking access.

Access includes the legal contract, terms and conditions. If this is complex, then we are blocking access.

Access includes simpler product design If this is complex to grasp, then we are blocking access.

Access includes ways to simplify how customers pay premiums and receive benefits. If this is complex and costly to do then we cannot be surprised by the lapses we experience.

Access includes insurers who adopt and accept more responsibility for socially and economically uplifting the communities they serve. This will require sharing more of the insurance profits with societies. If we do not do that, we restrict access and markets stagnate.

Getting access right will see insurance being bought and no longer sold.