CETA has seen a marked increase in the number of accident, sickness and unemployment (ASU) policies sold to the travel, finance and IT industries.
More stress and stress-related problems in these sectors, caused by world events such as September 11 and global recession, has forced people to reassess their cover.
During the final quarter of 2001, the number of white collar professionals in the travel industry taking out ASU policies jumped from 2% to 11% compared to the same period in 2000.
In the IT industry the increase was from 4% to 11% and in the financial sector from 1% to 9%.
CETA's managing director, David Quick, said: "Unemployment is set to rise to over one million as high profile redundancy announcements made in recent months begin to feed through. Most UK households have a high level of debt and as more people begin to feel nervous about the security of their employment they will looking to ensure their mortgage and essential bills."
