IP sales fall 7% as protection business slips slightly

Sales of pure protection products dipped by 1% in 2010/11 compared to the previous year. The FSA confirmed to COVER that this was predominantly fueled by a 7.7% dip in income protection (IP) sales and a 25.6% fall in stand alone critical illness (CI). However, CI when sold as a rider benefit grew by 2.8%. The regulator noted that the decline in mortgage sales has hit both sellers and providers in the market and also identified the trend towards a higher market concentration. In all three protection markets the five largest provider firms combined for more than 60% of the busines...