The long-term insurance industry attracted R50,2-billion in new individual life business last year.
According to the Life Offices’ Association (LOA), this translated into a 14% increase over the R44,2-billion received in 2005.
Commenting on the 2006 sales statistics released this week for the long-term insurance industry, LOA chief executive Gerhard Joubert said the increase in new business was heartening.
The life industry had been trying to regain consumer confidence by placing a much greater focus on the needs of the consumer, he said.
Joubert said total income for the life industry escalated by 23% to R201,9-billion last year compared with the R163,6-billion received in 2005.
Total income consisted of existing premium income for both individual business and group schemes as well as investment income.
Joubert explained that the R50,2-billion new individual business was made up of recurring and single premiums.
Individual business consists of life, disability, dread-disease and income-protection policies, as well as endowments, retirement-annuity funds, living annuities and compulsory annuities.
He said that looking at the five-year picture, life companies had recorded a steadily increasing flow of new individual recurring premium business — from R7,3-billion in 2002 to R9,5-billion last year.
In addition, new individual single premium business received by life companies last year was the highest in five years.
In recent years new single premiums had started to lag, but last year the industry saw new inflows of R40,7-billion.
This is the highest inflow recorded since 2002 when new single premium business amounted to R36,7-billion. — Sapa