Individual life new annualized premium growth turned flat in 2013 after three consecutive years of positive growth.
New annualized premium fell 8 percent in the fourth quarter, erasing the first half of the year's growth, LIMRA reports.
Total individual life insurance policy count fell 4 percent for the quarter and 3 percent for the year, ending the two years of positive policy count growth (in 2011 and 2012).
"The drop in individual life insurance premium was primarily driven by a 51 percent decline in lifetime guarantee UL (LTG UL) premium in the fourth quarter," said Ashley Durham, senior research analyst, LIMRA Insurance Research. "However, given the sharp increase of LTG UL sales at the end of 2012 ahead of the new regulatory reserving requirements, the decline was not unexpected."
Total universal life insurance (UL) new annualized premium was 23 percent lower in the fourth quarter, compared to prior year. In 2013, UL new annualized premium was down 7 percent, but held 38 percent of the total individual life insurance market.
