Westwood, MA. — (May 30, 2007) North American application activity for individually underwritten life insurance was off -1.6% in April year-over-year, according to the MIB Life Indexsm. The year-to-date (YTD) decline of -4.6% over January-April 2006, compares less favorably to a -1.1% decline seen during the first four months of last year, January-April 2006/2005. Month-over-month, April’s application volume was down -2.8% from March 2007 levels.
U.S. application activity declined -2.2% in April year-over-year, all ages combined. April’s declining activity was driven by a -3.5% decrease seen in the 0-44 age group versus April 2006; ages 45-59 and ages 60+ showed a -0.8% decline and a +1.7% increase, respectively. By age group, the four-month YTD analysis shows a -5.5% change ages 0-44, and a -3.3% decline and a -2.3% decline for ages 45-59 and 60+, respectively.
Canadian application activity increased +2.4% in April year-over-year, all ages combined. Year-to-date, Canada’s application activity is tracking -5.0% behind the same period 2006. By age group, ages 45-59 jumped +8.7% with all others essentially flat; ages 0-44 and ages 60+ at 0.0% and -0.6%, respectively.
Monthly Percent Change vs. 2006 | |||
U.S. | Canada | Total | |
April 2007 | -2.2% | +2.4% | -1.6% |
March 2007 | -3.3% | -5.1% | -3.5% |
YTD 2007 | -4.6% | -5.0% | -4.6% |
Monthly Percent Change vs. Previous Month | |||
U.S. | Canada | Total | |
April 2007 | -3.7% | +4.0% | -2.8% |
NOTE: The methodology for determining application activity by country has been modified effective January 2007. Comparative figures and trends calculated in this press release are from re-stated numbers. As a result, figures may vary from prior press releases: see www.mib.com/limethodology for details.
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.