Life Application Activity Cools Again

Activity for consumers seeking $5 million or more in death benefits was strong in some age groups.

U.S. individual life insurance application activity continued to cool in April, according to the new MIB life application activity report.

Application activity was 7.7% lower in March than in March 2021.

In April, application activity was 12% lower than in April 2021.

MIB Group has published those figures in its latest monthly activity index report.

The Braintree, Massachusetts-based group helps member life insurers share underwriting data. It bases the monthly index reports on the number of applications flowing through its systems.

What It Means

Life insurers spent years fighting consumer apathy and financial weakness.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted sales at first, then helped sales, by showing consumers why they needed protection against the financial impact of sudden, unexpected death.

Now that the focus on the pandemic is fading, life insurers face tougher year-over-year application activity comparisons, and it’s possible that inflation, rising interest rates and other factors are affecting consumers’ ability to pay for life insurance.

The Details

Here are the activity change figures, broken down by age group, for April:

Universal life application activity was down just 6.6%; whole life activity dropped 21%.

Term life was in the middle, with an activity decrease of 12%.

Activity at the $5 million-and-up coverage level increased by 10% or more for consumers ages zero-30, ages 61-70, and ages 71 and older.

The Policygenius Price Index

Policygenius, a life insurance web broker, uses its term life pricing information to provide monthly term life price index reports.

The company bases the index on prices for coverage with a 20-year level-premium term.

The lowest price shown is for coverage for a 25-year-old female nonsmoker who wants $250,000 in death benefits; The highest price is for a 55-year-old male smoker who wants $1 million in death benefits.

Policygenius figures suggest rising premiums may not be causing life application friction.

This month, the lowest price in the tables fell slightly, to $14.21, from $14.25 last month.

The highest price, for the 55-year-old male smoker, fell even more — to $1,016.10, from $1,019.02.

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