It is not surprising that whole of life is unpopular with consumers: the product, which gets more expensive as the policyholder gets older, seems particularly unattractive during a recession. Could it get any worse? Probably not. Peter Carvill asks if it's time the cover stirred from its slumber Click here to download pdf (PDF, 793KB)
The story this year, as it was last year, is that sales of whole of life (WOL) policies are continuing to plummet. According to Swiss Re's Health and Term Watch 2008, 2007 sales of the product topped out at 183,636. If, as COVER reported last year, that the 2006 sales of 195,141 marked the lowest recorded for the product, the most hopeful thing that could be said is that the decline has possibly finally bottomed out. Swiss Re, despite the grim situation, remains optimistic on the grounds that its stance - that WOL products with no cash value other than on death should fall under Insurance...
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