Westwood, MA. – (December 3, 2007) North American application activity for individually underwritten life insurance was down slightly in October, off -0.9% year-over-year according to the MIB Life Indexsm. Year-to-date (YTD) U.S. and Canadian application activity was off -2.9% compared to the same ten months last year.
U.S. application activity in October was off -1.2% year-over-year, all ages combined. Declining activity was seen in the 0-44 and 45-59 age groups off -2.0% and -0.7% respectively, while the 60+ age group extended a seven month growth trend up +2.3% versus October 2006. YTD, application activity lags -3.2% behind the same ten month period last year.
Canadian application activity was up +1.4% in October year-over-year, all ages combined marking its fifth month of consecutive increases. Application activity ages 0-44 was off a modest -0.5% with solid increases posted in the 45-59 and 60+ age groups, both up +4.5%. Application activity in the 45-59 age group and the 60+ age group have improved yearover-year for the last seven and five consecutive months, respectively. YTD, Canadian application activity remains level at -0.5%, compared to the same ten month period last year.
| Monthly Percent Change vs. 2006 | |||
| U.S. | Canada | Total | |
| October 2007 | -1.2% | +1.4% | -0.9% |
| September 2007 | -2.0% | +4.9% | -1.1% |
| YTD 2007 | -3.2% | -0.5% | -2.9% |
| Monthly Percent Change vs. Previous Month | |||
| U.S. | Canada | Total | |
| October 2007 | +0.8% | -1.2% | +0.5% |
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.
