MIB: September Life Application Activity Down

NU Online News Service, Nov. 12, 3:45 p.m. – The MIB Group Inc., Westwood, Mass., says U.S. life insurers checked 1.9% fewer life insurance applications in October than they checked in October 2001.

But the decrease is probably the result of a spike in applications following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks rather than a decrease in enthusiasm about life insurance, MIB says.

“Year-to-year comparisons of U.S. application activity over the last eight months suggest modest but discernible market growth for 2002,” says Stacy Gill, a vice president at MIB’s e-Services Corp. unit. “Life insurers continue to trade market share with the size of the U.S. market, struggling for continued growth.”