Braintree, MA. – (August 11, 2009) North American application activity for individually underwritten life insurance remained flat in July (0%) compared to the same month last year, according to the MIB Life Indexsm. Flat activity across both June and July 2009 is consistent with activity levels observed for these two summer months since 2007. Year-to-date (YTD), U.S. and Canadian application activity is off -1.4%. July�s activity declined -4.2% versus June 2009.
Application activity in the U.S. was off -0.9% in July year-over-year, all ages combined. The 0-44 age group was off -4.8%, ages 45-59 were up slightly at +0.8% and ages 60+ increased +12.8% over July 2008. At July�s close, YTD U.S. life insurance application activity was off -1.8% — a half percentage point ahead of YTD levels from July 2008 (-2.3%).
Application activity in Canada was up +6.2% in July year-over-year, all ages combined. The 0-44 age group was up +1.8% with significant increases in ages 45-59 and ages 60+, up +10.2% and +22.3%, respectively.* At July�s close, YTD Canadian life insurance application activity was up +1.7% — seven tenths of a percentage point behind YTD levels from July 2008 (+2.4%).
Monthly Percent Change vs. 2008* | |||
U.S. | Canada | Total | |
July 2009 | -0.9% | +6.2% | 0.0% |
June 2009 | -0.8% | +0.9% | -0.6% |
YTD 2009 | -1.8% | +1.7% | -1.4% |
Monthly Percent Change vs. Previous Month | |||
U.S. | Canada | Total | |
July 2009 | -4.7% | -1.3% | -4.2% |
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.