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Are the likes of GoFundMe damaging protection market?

ended 25. February 2026

More and more people are funding medical treatment, funerals and other life events that are often easily covered by a protection or other insurance policy through platforms like GoFundMe. Given that the public generally are utterly useless when it comes to life insurance, critical illness, etc, and understanding its importance (while spending £100pcm to ensure their sausage dog stays in the Priory when it gets anxious), are we at the point where people in their heads think, if something happens, I’d fund it on GoFundMe so I don’t need to pay the £25pcm on that insurance policy this adviser is recommending? Are platforms like this proving detrimental to advisers and, just as importantly, to the public? Yes, they can be brilliant when they work well but what if they don’t work and you don’t raise the money you need for treatment or whatever it is? It's already hard enough to get people to take responsibility and protect themselves, but are the likes of GoFundMe making it harder still? Any thoughts or insights, send them across ASAP as writing this story now…

9 responses from the Newspage community

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Katy EatentonVerified
Mortgage & Protection Specialist at Eatenton Finance
While platforms like GoFundMe can be brilliant and powerful, they are also causing people to become even more complacent about what might happen in the event of illness or some other life event. More and more clients we speak to say that they would rely on platforms like GoFundMe if they became critically ill, but in reality that’s a failure to take on any responsibility and also ignores the fact that treatments can cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds, money that you simply cannot rely on family and friends to deliver. We are increasingly in a dangerous culture where too many people leave problems to others to sort out rather than take responsibility themselves.
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Craig FishVerified
Director at Lodestone Mortgages
It genuinely worries me that some people may now see platforms like GoFundMe as a substitute for proper protection. Crowdfunding can be incredible in a crisis, but it should never be Plan A. When taken at the right time, with the right advice, life cover or critical illness protection can cost less than a takeaway each month. We’re often talking £20 - £30 to properly protect a family. What concerns me is the mindset shift. Relying on the goodwill of others instead of taking personal responsibility is a dangerous gamble. What happens if the campaign doesn’t raise enough? Or anything at all? Even basic life cover is better than nothing. Without it, families are left exposed at the worst possible moment. Crowdfunding is a safety net for the unexpected. Insurance is a plan. And plans are far more reliable than hope.
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Riz MalikVerified
Independent Financial Adviser at R3 Wealth
When I see people spend nearly £200 per month on their TV package but don’t spend anything protecting themselves or their family it does make me question the notional of individual responsibility. Where there is genuine hardship, that is another matter and platforms like these can serve a useful purpose. No one sees the benefit of insurance until it happens to them. By that time it is usually too late. Asking others to help in a situation you could and should have made provisions for is not on.
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Ben PerksVerified
Managing Director at Orchard Financial Advisers
GoFundMe and Just Giving are a popularity contest, and when the chips are down you may realise that people don’t dig deep in their pockets for you. This is especially the case during leaner times, and times are still fairly lean for many households. Control your own fate. GoFundMe, Just Giving and others like them are not sensible replacements for Protection and Insurance. If you have a major life event, you want the certainty that money is on the way.
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Michelle LawsonVerified
Director at Lawson Financial
These sites are typical examples of expecting others to pick up the tab for their irresponsibility. The amount of donations by some individuals equate to more than the monthly premium by the person asking for help. There needs to be a drastic shift where individuals see the benefit of protection, and don’t think they are invincible. These pages clearly show public attitude with the fact they exist. Protecting you, your family and your assets should be the responsibility of you only and not the general public's donations. This is just lazy self insurance.
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Anita WrightVerified
Chartered Financial Planner at Ribble Wealth Management
Crowdfunding platforms are, in effect, the modern equivalent of passing the hat around the village. People tend to focus on the headline success stories (“they raised £80,000 in 48 hours”) and ignore how many campaigns never hit their target. Insurance exists precisely because life’s big financial shocks are lumpy, time critical and emotionally incapacitating. A protection policy is a legally binding promise that is not dependent on whether strangers are in a generous mood that week. There is also a subtle social cost. Crowdfunding can normalise the idea that catastrophic costs should be met by public donation rather than private planning particularly for foreseeable and insurable risks such as income loss through illness, mortgage protection and family dependency,
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Simon BridglandVerified
Broker at Charwin Private Clients
Most people have a choice of what they spend their money on, if an individual feels they would rather down a vanilla double choc latte every day rather than paying to insure their home and possessions then quite frankly they should be looking in the mirror and slapping themselves, swiftly. A coffee tastes great in the morning but won’t rebuild your life. So expecting to hold out a hand and have it filled with others’ generosity because you felt it’s a waste of your resources is morally bankrupt. Thankfully it’s not at at the level where M&S or Aviva need to set up a Go Fund Me page , but it might not take too much imagination.
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Rohit KohliVerified
Director at The Mortgage Stop
GoFundMe can help in a crisis, but it’s not a safety net you can rely on. It only works if enough people see it, believe in it, and give - and even then you might not raise what you need, or in time. The bigger issue is what it reflects: a worrying “we’ll cope somehow” attitude to risk. That same mindset shows up in mortgage conversations all the time. Not “I’ll crowdfund it”, but “mum and dad will help”, “work cover will sort me out”, or “we’ll manage if it happens”. It’s often paired with a belief that the state or the NHS will step in and everything will be fine. None of that is guaranteed, and it doesn’t cover the real damage - months off work, reduced income, and the cost of care. Proper protection is the boring answer, but it’s the only one that turns hope into certainty.
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Darryl DhofferVerified
Founder at The Mortgage Geezer
The tragedy GoFundMe has become a safety net for a society that forgot how insurance works. Relying on a digital begging bowl for a critical illness or a funeral isn't heartwarming; it's poor financial planning.

Life and critical illness cover exist for these exact catastrophes. Yet, instead of paying a basic premium to protect our families, we expect the guilt-tripped generosity of acquaintances to bail us out. It's bonkers. At this rate, what next, busking for your car insurance renewal? Stop treating inevitable life events like a crowdfunded startup.