JHA Finds Disability Sales Rising As Group Life Sales Flatten

One possible reason that disability insurance performed better is that the disability insurance market is less saturated than the group life market, and another possible reason is that insurers had a hard time topping the excellent results they produced in 2006, Varney says.

But Varney says she believes some of the success may be due to educational efforts by JHA and nonprofit groups such as the International DI Society, Seal Beach, Calif.; the Council for Disability Awareness, Portland, Maine; and the Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education, Arlington, Va.

Aflac Inc., Columbus, Ga., may have helped by advertising disability insurance on television with the tagline, “Ask for it at work,” Varney says.

In the coming year, the state of the economy could be a challenge both for group life sellers and for disability insurance sellers, Varney says.

She says brokers told her in April that the biggest challenge employers face these days is “just paying the bills.”

But, even if sales of employer-paid benefits soften, “I do think the voluntary offerings will continue to flourish,” Varney says.

Although voluntary group life sales fell in 2007, voluntary group disability sales increased 5%.

JHA also looked at the accidental death and dismemberment insurance market.

In-force premium revenue increased 7%, as the monthly premium for in-force business fell 3%, to 3 cents per $1,000 of coverage.