Residents in Singapore increased their life insurance coverage by 10 per cent in the first three months of the year, compared to the same period last year, according to the Life Insurance Association (LIA) of Singapore. In a press statement released on Monday (May 8), the LIA noted that the industry recorded sum assured for new business totalling S$24.3 billion in the first quarter of 2017.
A total of S$811 million in weighted new business premiums was recorded for the period January to March, a 19 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.
Weighted new business premiums measure premiums collected on new policies by taking into account (1) 10 per cent of the value of single premium products, (2) all of a year’s premiums for annual premium products, and (3) adjusted value for products with premium payment durations of less than 10 years.
There was an increase in uptake across both single and annual premiums. Compared to the same period in 2016, the industry recorded a 30 per cent increase to S$281.3 million in weighted single premiums, and a 14 per cent increase to S$529.7 million in weighted annual premiums.
Mr Patrick Teow, president of LIA Singapore said, “The encouraging results in the first quarter point to our core focus of bridging Singapore’s protection gap. Work is underway on a fresh Protection Gap Study this year. Ensuring adequate protection is especially critical at a time of economic uncertainty and rapid demographic shifts in Singapore. Life insurers are increasingly leveraging digitalisation to innovate and respond to these fundamental changes.”
On top of this, approximately 20,000 Singapore residents bought additional health insurance coverage to complement MediShield Life in the first quarter of the year. In all, new health insurance premiums totalled S$66 million for the January to March period, of which Integrated Shield Plans (IP) premiums and IP riders accounted for 90 per cent (S$59 million).
The remaining S$7 million was contributed by other medical plans and riders. As at March 31, 2.91 million lives—approximately one in two individuals in Singapore—are insured.
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