Life insurance shows healthy increase in sales volumes

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

A recent survey carried out by the Confederation of British Insurers (CBI) and Price Waterhouse Coopers suggests that the last three months have seen a positive increase in sales of Life insurance, boosting profitability for the industry sector. The recent growth in insurance is the biggest surge seen since the end of 2007, suggesting that more people are looking to secure their assets and future through taking up Life insurance policies.

Both volume and profit increases have been recorded within the industry, in direct contrast with General insurance sales and profitability, which has seen a fall in consumer uptake and a loss reported for the third consecutive quarter. Industry experts anticipate that the reduction in GI sales volumes is set to continue for the near future.

In the survey, CBI asked respondents about their business volumes in specific insurance industries. 38% of people said that they had achieved an increase in volumes, while 9% reported a loss. This figure shows a nine percent increase in overall sales. Despite this, CBI have stated that growth in the financial sector overall is lower than originally anticipated, and the insurance industry is still reporting a ‘below normal’ volume of business. This has been blamed in part by customer concerns about regulation and legislative changes to the insurance industry, which may be making people more wary of committing to policies.

Andrew Kail from Price Waterhouse Coopers commented: “As plans for domestic growth remain weak, many insurers will be looking to international markets to drive growth during the year ahead”. This suggests that the overall downturn in business volume will be encouraging insurance firms to seek ways of attracting new customers through enhanced deals, and looking of ways to generate business from abroad.