WESTWOOD, Mass., Aug. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — North American application activity for individually underwritten life insurance was off slightly in July, down -1.5% year-over-year, according to the MIB Life Indexsm. July’s decline in the U.S. was largely offset by very positive application activity this month in Canada. Overall for 2007, year-over-year net change shows declining activity at a decreasing rate from January / February levels in the -6.5% range. Year-to-date (YTD) life insurance application activity for the U.S. and Canada is off -3.3% compared to the same period last year.
U.S. application activity declined -2.6% in July year-over-year, all ages combined. Decreased activity was seen in the 0-44 and 45-59 age groups, off – 4.5% and -1.7% respectively, while the 60+ age group extended a four month growth trend increasing +5.2% versus July 2006. YTD, U.S. application activity lags -3.5% behind the same seven-month period in 2006. July activity compared to June was off -5.5%, consistent with historical averages for this time period.
Canadian application activity increased +6.5% in July year-over-year, all ages combined. Notably, this is the largest increase in activity for July over the prior July volume since 2002. Application activity was up across all three age groups: ages 0-44, up +4.0%; ages 45-59, up +11.1%; and ages 60+, up +9.1%. YTD, Canadian application activity is off -2.2% compared to same period 2006.
| Monthly Percent Change vs. 2006 | |||
| U.S. | Canada | Total | |
| July 2007 | -2.6% | +6.5% | -1.5% |
| June 2007 | -2.7% | +0.9% | -2.2% |
| YTD 2007 | -3.5% | -2.2% | -3.3% |
| Monthly Percent Change vs. Previous Month | |||
| U.S. | Canada | Total | |
| June 2007 | -5.5% | -5.5% | -5.5% |
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.
