After declining sharply earlier in the year, application activity in the United States was up 14.1 per cent, year-over-year in July, according to the MIB Life Index from Massachusetts-based MIB Group, Inc.
“The most expansive year-over-year growth for a July on record, this month’s results show a significant demand matched by a resilient industry that has successfully adjusted to how business is acquired and underwritten,” MIB said in a statement. July’s application activity was up four percent over June 2020 numbers with double digit growth in all product lines in on a year-over-year basis.
Most notably, July saw a year-over-year increase of more than 28 per cent for face amounts of more than $5-million (USD) for applicants over age 60. Face amounts between $1-million and $5-million did not enjoy equally favourable results: MIB says year-over-year, applications by those over age 50, for face amounts between $1-million and $5-million, declined five per cent.
Overall, MIB says application activity for those under age 60 showed “unprecedented growth” during the month. The number of applications written for those between ages zero and 44, increased 18.9 per cent year-over-year in July. Applications for those between 45 and 59 rose 12.9 per cent and applications for those over age 60 increased four per cent.
Year-to-date, applications for those between zero and 44 are up 5.5 per cent and up 2.2 per cent for those between 45 and 59. Year-to-date numbers for those over age 60 were off, declining 1.4 per cent year-to-date. “Submissions for older age applicants have lagged all year, off -4.8 per cent in the first seven months of 2020,” they write.
