Life insurance claims increase
Life insurance claim payments have jumped by 10.7 per cent over the last 12 months, breaking through $4 billion in claim payments, according to new figures released by the Risk Store.
This total is only slightly lower than claim payment growth of 11.4 per cent in 2011. Claim payments have increased by 116 per cent since 2006.
Any adviser not armed with this information was making it harder to communicate the value of a naturally intangible product, said managing director Peter Wincott.
“It gives confirmation that advisers can communicate to clients that insurers actually do - when the rubber hits the road - pay out a considerable amount of funds each year to claimants,” he said.
It provides a sense of comfort to existing clients about why they are paying their premiums, and combats potential clients’ cynicism about the insurance industry, Wincott said.
Founder Sue Laing said that despite regulation overload, the insurance industry still manages to make an enormous contribution to Australians and the economy overall.
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Policy and advocacy specialist Benjamin Marshan has left the Council of Australian Life Insurers after less than a year, having joined in March from the Financial Planning Association of Australia.
The declining volume of risk advisers meant KPMG has found a rising lapse rate for insurance policies arranged by independent financial advisers, particularly in the TPD and death cover space.
The Life Insurance Code of Practice has transferred from the Financial Services Council to the Council of Australian Life Insurers.
The firm has announced it will no longer be writing new life insurance policies in the retail advised and corporate group insurance channels, citing a declining market and risk adviser numbers.
