(Westwood, Mass. – December 22, 2005) North American application activity for individually underwritten life insurance declined -1.4% in November,
year-over-year, according to the MIB Life Indexsm . This marks the Index�s tenth consecutive year-over-year decline for 2005. November�s declines are half those observed for North American activity in October and September, -2.9% and -2.8%, respectively. Year-to-date (YTD), North American activity is off -3.1% for the last eleven months over the same period last year.
Overall U.S. application activity was off -2.0% for November 2005/2004 for all ages combined. Volume declined across all three age groups: 0-44 off -2.1%, 45-59 off -1.1%, and 60+ off -3.7%. The largest YTD drop can be seen in the 0-44 age group, down -4.1%; YTD, the 60+ age group stands virtually unchanged from 2004 levels at +0.1%. Aggregate YTD activity for the U.S. is -3.2% behind that of 2004 through the last eleven months. A seasonal up-tick in voluntary group life insurance can be observed in the November Index.
Canadian application activity was a bit brighter, increasing +2.8% November 2005/2004 for all ages combined. The increase was reflected across all three age groups: 0-44 up +2.7%, age 45-59 up +2.6%, and 60+ up +5.1%. This is the second consecutive year-over-year monthly increase for the 45-59 group, and the third such increase for the 60+ group. YTD, Canadian activity is -1.8% behind that of 2004 through the last eleven months
| Monthly Percent Change vs 2003 | |||
| US | Canada | Total | |
| November 2005 | -2.0% | +2.8% | -1.4% |
| October 2005 | -3.2% | -0.2% | -2.9% |
| YTD 2005 | -3.2% | -1.8% | -3.1% |
| Monthly Percent Change vs Previous Month | |||
| US | Canada | Total | |
| November 2005 | +1.3% | +3.9% | +1.6% |
About the MIB Life Index
The MIB Life Index is the life insurance industry’s timeliest measure of application activity across the U.S. Released to the media each month, the Index is based on the number of searches 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.
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 management decisions. MIB, Inc. and MIB Solutions, Inc. are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the MIB Group, Inc. Visit www.mib.com.
