AN ANALYSIS of the available data for the local life insurance industry revealed an upward movement in the key indicators of individual life sales performance for January to August 2000, according to the Life Insurance Companies Association of Jamaica (LICA).
For the eight-month period (January to August), a total of 36,028 policies were sold, an increase of 15 per cent above the comparable period of last year. Annualised premium income from these policies was $677 million, up 21 per cent , while the face amount payable, or coverage, rose by 41 per cent to $17 billion. The average policy size increased from $390,000 for the first eight months of last year to $477,000 for 2000.
The year 1999 was a particularly challenging one for the industry. However, the data for 2000 compares favourably with the figures for the last three years.
Gross premium income from business in force totalled $4.2 billion for the January to August period, up 39 per cent while cash disbursements to policyholders and their beneficiaries amounted to $1.5 billion during the same period.
Commenting on performance for the current year, Mr. Orville Johnson, president of LICA, said that "The recapitalisation of the sector and the initiatives to improve the regulation and supervision of the insurance sector has led to an increased in confidence in the industry which has experienced significant growth".
He stated that, "The industry is now concentrating on its core business of proving protection from untimely death and retirement income for those who outlive their income. There is also an emphasis on benefits for persons terminally ill from diseases such as cancer, so policyholders can collect funds to assist them with medical expenses while they are alive.
"Companies have been aggressively recruiting new agents and advertising their products, so once again life insurance companies have a strong media presence. This has helped to push sales as life insurance tends to be an unsought good, which is sold rather than bought. There is once more also very keen rivalry among companies for market share, although they are keeping a watchful eye on the bottom-line," he said.
Mr. Johnson stressed that "the life insurance industry has rebounded but the major threat is the anaemic economy, as continued success will depend on sustained economic growth and the expansion of employment opportunities".
