Direct life insurance up but credit insurance flat
Overall direct life insurance sales have grown 11.3 per cent in 2011 and in-force annual premiums are up 10.9 per cent despite flat growth in credit-related insurance sales, according to Rice Warner. Term, income protection and accident insurance business in-force premiums are up 17.4 per cent and have grown more rapidly than traditional adviser-sold and superannuation fund risk insurance in 2011.
‘Churning’ should be addressed at the underwriting stage
Underwriters should exercise the whip hand when it comes to dealing with churning in life insurance. That is the analysis of Synchron, which has claimed that in order to address the issue of ‘churning’ the responsibility should fall on the underwriter to determine whether to continue with an insurance policy.
Benefits of a safety net
Income protection premiums are deductible but often overlooked. If you are thinking about income protection insurance, it could be financially worth your while to prepay a year’s premiums before June 30 and bring forward a handy tax deduction. But that doesn’t mean you should grab any old policy.
Calculate the essentials of protection
Imagine that you had a machine that pumped out $100 notes. Would you insure this miracle device? You’d be nuts not to. Well, that is analogous to what the main breadwinner in a family does, points out Jordan Hawke, executive general manager at Asteron Life, “yet they often won’t insure themselves”.
Tougher times mean bigger bucks for insurers
Despite the gloom, there are pockets of growing organic demand. The insurers, whether it be life, health or general insurance, are proving their resilience. According to ClearView Wealth, the industry-wide sale of life-insurance products continues to truck along at low double-digit levels.
74% of Aussies don’t trust financial planners
No matter how much you strive to go about your business with honesty and integrity, it would appear that the majority of Australians won’t believe you if you tell them so. According to this year’s annual Image of Professions survey from Roy Morgan, financial planners are only the 17th most trusted of the 30 professions that appear in the list – sandwiched between public opinion pollsters and directors of public companies.
