Whole of life

The whole of life (WOL) market has experienced its fair share of difficulties over recent years. Between 1998 and 2001 sales encountered a sharp decline, but after three years of bad crop, many industry experts believed the trend had finally reversed when sales rose by nearly 13.5% in 2002. Unfortunately, this prediction proved incorrect. According to figures from Swiss Re's Term & Health Watch 2004, WOL sales dropped from 254,357 in 2002 to 230,698 in 2003 – nearly as low as in 2001 (224,168) when sales hit rock bottom. While figures for 2004 have not yet been made official, insurance ...