MIB Index: U.S. Life Insurance Activity Down in August

September 14, 2012 at 10:09 AM

Share & Print

U.S. application activity for individually underwritten life insurance was down 1.9 percent in August year-over-year, all ages combined. August is typically a slow month, as summer lethargy begins to where off, activity should pick up.

MIB Group, Inc., Braintree, Mass., published this finding in its MIB Life Index, a measure of life insurance application activity in the US. Released monthly, the Index is based on the number of searches MIB life member company underwriters perform on the MIB Checking Service database.

Overall life insurance application activity was up 1.7 percent when compared with the same eight months of the previous year. August activity was slightly up from July, reinforcing the theory that things will pick up as the summer draws down.

U.S. application activity lost ground in the two youngest age groups and flat across older ages.

Broken down into age groups, the application activity was as follows: 0-44 was down 1.9 percent; 45-59 was down 3.3 percent; 60 and up remained flat at 0.2 percent.

Ages 60 and up remain up 5.7 percent year-to-date but that age group lost traction as a flurry of winter activity have way to a flat summer.

Notably, year-to-date activity remains positive across the board but has eroded some since the summer.

NOT FOR REPRINT