Individual Disability Policy Sales Climb 13%: Gen Re

Insurers were better at increasing the number of new U.S. individual disability insurance policies sold in 2018 than at increasing the total number of U.S. residents with individual disability coverage, according to new survey results from Gen Re.

The number of new policies sold increased 13% from the 2017 total, to about 289,000.

The total number of people with individual disability coverage increased only about 0.9%, to 3 million.

(Related: Disability Insurance Awareness Month Taps Into Financial Wellness Movement)

Gen Re is a South Portland, Maine-based reinsurance arm of Berkshire Hathaway. Analysts at the firm base their individual disability market figures on results from an issuer survey.

Fifteen companies participated in the latest survey. The number of issuers was the same as it was for the 2018 survey.

Here’s a look at some of the 2018 performance figures for new individual policy sales:

• Premium revenue from new sales increased 2.8%, to $413 million.
• The value of the new benefits sold increased 7.8%, to $1.9 billion.

The average premium per newly covered life fell about 1%, to $6,574, based on ThinkAdvisor calculations made using Gen Re data.

Here’s a look at some of the performance figures for in-force coverage:

• In-force premium revenue increased 2.1%, to $4.8 billion.
• The total amount of benefits in force increased 1.6%, to $19 billion.

ThinkAdvisor calculations suggest that the average amount of premium revenue per in-force policy increased 0.7%, to $6,314.