Mental health report: What stresses out Canadian P&C professionals

Canadian property and casualty insurance industry professionals are reporting high stress levels associated with unusually heavy workloads, the byproduct of a record year of natural catastrophe claims, results from Canadian Underwriter’s 2024 Mental Health Survey show.

Claims adjusters, underwriters, customer-facing employees, and those with less experience in the industry appear to be particularly vulnerable to feeling higher levels of stress.

It’s something the Canadian P&C industry needs to get a better handle on, one insurance professional comments in the survey.

“Mental health is a moving target and the industry, meaning the insurance industry, has not addressed the chronic [or] acute symptoms of this,” the person writes. “And therefore, when you don’t understand something, you don’t do anything.

“The legislation regarding job security does not address the issue enough for most people to [feel comfortable to] search out support, meaning that, if [mental health concerns are] disclosed, most employers discriminate based on fear of the unknown.”

CU’s inaugural Mental Health Survey heard from 836 P&C professionals, who were asked to rate their mental health on a scale of 1 to 10. A rating of 1 represented “no concerns at all,” while 10 was defined as being “unable to function.”

Twelve per cent of respondents put their own mental health between an 8 and a 10. (10% rated it an 8, while 2% rated it a 9). Another 34% rated it a six (20%) or seven (14%).

Thirty-eight percent of P&C industry professionals reported feeling either “highly stressed” (35%) or “acute stress” (3%).

CU’s survey was fielded between Aug. 14 and Aug. 30, shortly after four major natural catastrophes in the span of a month in July and August created a record number of claims to resolve. The research was made possible by Allstate Canada.

Between flooding in Ontario (the remnants of Hurricane Beryl), flooding in Quebec (the remnants of Hurricane Debby), a wildfire in the picturesque town of Jasper, Alta., and a record-setting hailstorm in Calgary, Canada’s P&C insurance industry is expecting its worst-ever loss year, with a total of $7.6 billion in projected claims payouts to date.

Insurance Bureau of Canada reported 228,000 insurance claims submitted this July and August, as opposed to the 160,000 claims insurers processed in all of 2023. And this is all happening when the industry, like many others, is dealing with a well-documented labour shortage.

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And so, the predictable result is that 61% of P&C insurance professionals responding to our survey cite “heavy workload” as their Number 1 source of stress.

“The stigma associated with mental health and stress is still very real in the workplace,” one respondent comments. “Repeated requests for support to alleviate workload are unanswered and open positions remain unfilled due to a lack of skilled/willing workers.

“An inability to manage stress and/or workload, resulting in a failure to meet goals/objectives, is viewed as poor performance and met with criticism.”

For those in a claims role, 73% (68% for claims adjusters specifically) and 70% of consumer-facing employees cite heavy workload as their Number 1 stressor. It’s also cited as the top stressor by 60% of people in the survey with 10 or fewer years of experience.

The second-highest reason for stress was meeting management demands. Forty-five percent chose this from a list of other potential stressors, including organizational culture, dealing with customers, and personality conflicts with colleagues.

Underwriters topped the list of P&C roles citing management demands as their Number 1 stressor.

Survey respondents were given a list of 15 medical symptoms commonly associated with mental health illness, as defined by the Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic.

Of these symptoms, 77% report having experienced significant tiredness, low energy, or problems sleeping at some point during their lives. A further 68% reported feeling “sad or down.” Asked if they were feeling these symptoms now, 64% of P&C professionals in the survey said yes. Sixty-three percent say they have felt these symptoms at some point during the past year.

Of particular concern is the finding that 17% of P&C insurance professionals say they have felt “excessive anger, hostility, or violence” at some point during their lives. Sixteen percent say they have felt suicidal, while 15% report turning to drugs and alcohol, and 4% are feeling “detachment from reality (delusions), paranoia, or hallucinations.”

Extrapolating from the 64% who said they feel these symptoms now, the survey numbers suggest up to 275 industry professionals in Canada could be in a very dark place, experiencing some of the more acute symptoms of mental illness mentioned above.

For one survey respondent, a major stressor is that the P&C industry is not recognizing the signs of distress.

There’s “no true recognition for mental health, just the facade of knowing what it means in the workplace,” the industry professional comments.

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of articles about the findings of the Canadian Underwriter 2024 Mental Health survey. Tuesday, we will discuss why many people aren’t comfortable discussing the topic of mental health. Plus, we will look at how mental health affects workplace productivity, and how industry professionals feel about the mental health supports and resources available to them.

This article references serious symptoms associated with mental health illness. If you, members of your family or friends need help, several mental health resources are available. They include:

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