Life insurance sales edge lower in Q3

SINGAPORE — Life insurance sales in Singapore fell slightly in the third quarter, due mainly to the decline in single-premium non-linked products such as endowment policies, reported Life Insurance Association (LIA) Singapore yesterday.

Total weighted new business premiums amounted to S$808.2 million in the July-to-September period, 1 per cent lower than the S$813 million achieved in the same period a year ago, said LIA.

This came on the back of a 14 per cent year-on-year drop in sales of weighted new single premium products to S$232.8 million, while sales of annual premium products rose 6 per cent to S$575.4 million.

The quarter also saw about 10,000 more Singapore residents get additional health insurance coverage, mostly through Integrated Shield Plans (IPs) and riders. “The continuing increase in the number of lives covered by IPs and IP riders show Singapore residents’ growing appreciation of the necessity for health insurance and the choice of additional benefits provided by IP plans and IP riders,” said LIA president Khoo Kah Siang.

For the first nine months of the year, the life insurance industry in Singapore registered an 8 per cent increase in total weighted new business premiums compared with the same period in 2015, with total weighted new business premiums amounting to S$2.3 billion for the period, said the association. The growth was driven by increases in both single and annual premium products, which were up 11 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively, to S$730.8 million and S$1.6 billion, it added.

New health insurance premiums totalled S$172 million in the nine months to September, of which IP premiums and IP riders accounted for 85 per cent or S$146 million. The remaining S$26 million was contributed by other medical plans and riders, said LIA.

Dr Khoo said LIA will study the recommendations of the Health Insurance Task Force, which include publishing medical fee benchmarks in an attempt to curb over-treatment, which can, in turn, mitigate the inflation of healthcare claims.