The major reinsurance company Swiss Re have called up on the UK life insurance and health insurance industry to take radical action to stem year-on-year declines in the sales of income protection insurance .
There is currently a vast protection gap between the amount of income protection insurance needed by the working population and the amount of policyholders . Swiss Re indicate that the insurance policy could drop off the market altogether over time.
The annual Term and Health Watch publication from Swiss Re compiled data from UK life insurance companies, and found that sales of income protection insurance was sliding compared to other insurance products .
The head of marketing at Swiss Re's UK life and health reinsurance division, Mark Johnson, was reported as commenting: "The life industry cannot use a perceived lack of consumer demand as an excuse not to raise people's awareness of the need for income protection. As sales of new individual income protection policies continue to decline, leading to increases in the size of the Income Protection Gap, the industry must face up to the fact that this product is now in the 'last-chance saloon'. Fundamental changes are needed to ensure that it does not disappear altogether, and the industry as a whole must promote the benefits of income protection if we are to make progress in helping consumers help themselves."




