May Life Insurance Activity Down 1.3%
June 18, 2014 by MIB Life Index
Braintree, MA. (June 18, 2014) – U.S. application activity for individually underwritten life insurance declined slightly in May, off -1.3% year-over-year, all ages combined, according to the MIB Life Index. Despite this month’s decline, the 2014 trend line shows a market slowly recovering, with May’s close -3.1% YTD, an improvement over first quarter’s -5.4% YTD. May application activity was off -8.0% from that of the previous April, consistent with seasonal averages.
U.S. application activity in May was lower in the two youngest age groups, with the 60+ age group rising slightly: ages 0-44 were off -2.1%, ages 45-59 were off -1.0%, and ages 60+ were up slightly at +0.5%, year-over-year. With the exception of April 2014’s positive activity, ages 0-44 and 45-59 have lost ground each month consecutively since April 2013. Ages 60+ have seen more moderate declines with positive application activity in two of the five months in 2014, and four of the twelve months in 2013, year-over-year.
About the MIB Life Index
The MIB Life Index is the life insurance industry’s timeliest measure of application activity in the United States. Released to the media each month, the Index is based on the number of searches MIB life member company underwriters perform on the MIB Checking Service database. Since the vast majority of individually underwritten life premium dollars in North America include an MIB search as a routine underwriting requirement, the MIB Life Index provides a reasonable means to estimate new business activity. For past releases, methodology or to subscribe visit www.mib.com/lifeindex.
About MIB
MIB is the life and health insurance industry’s most trusted resource for risk information and analytical services. Owned by the industry it has served for more than a century, MIB is uniquely positioned to aggregate industry insights in order to develop products and services for our members that improve their risk assessment. MIB, Inc. and MIB Solutions, Inc. are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the MIB Group, Inc. (www.mibgroup.com).
