Last month we told you that voluntary sales, according to our annual U.S. Worksite/Voluntary Sales Report, were $6.644 billion, a 4.3 percent increase over 2012 results (adjusted for new companies and method changes). In this column, we'll look at the sales by product line and platform.
Life insurance overall jumped again, making this the fifth straight year for gains. Life sales for 2013 were $1.881 billion. Term accounted for 76 percent of the total life new business annualized premium, up from 72 percent.
Total disability sales were $1.367 billion in 2013 and accounted for 21 percent of voluntary NBAP again this year. Short-term disability sales accounted for 68 percent of the disability total, up from 66 percent last year. Both STD and LTD sales were up, too.
Accident sales were down in 2013 and accounted for 12 percent of total voluntary sales, down from 14 percent last year. Still, at $775.1 million in sales, the product line is a huge part of voluntary sales. Hospital indemnity/supplemental medical also saw a drop. Total sales for the line were about $552 million.
Critical illness sales were up again in 2013, but cancer sales were down. This year, critical illness sales almost reached cancer sales with cancer coming in at $356 million and critical illness at $327 million.
When looking at voluntary sales by product platform, the verdict is pretty clear: Voluntary is now a group market. The mix of sales by platform was 64 percent group and 36 percent individual. Accurate calculations of the increase by platform over 2012 are not possible due to the change in methodology by some carriers. However, based on the unadjusted 2012 numbers and the 2013 results, group sales grew by 25 percent and individual shrank by nine percent. The following graph shows actual sales premium by platform since 2004.
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