Small percentage of households recall life insurance opportunity
01/26/12LIMRA's 2011 Life Insurance Buyer/Non-Buyer study recently found that only 39 percent of American households recall an opportunity to purchase life insurance.
Life insurance companies are now working to provide more advertising in order to reach consumers who haven't had the opportunity to purchase a policy, despite coverage being accessible through many channels, including via phone, mail and on the internet.
“This phenomenon is especially true for single people - a growing segment of the population because of a decline in marriages and an increase in divorce during the past few decades,” Cheryl Retzloff, senior research director of LIMRA Market Research, said. “Only 26 percent of single people recall having an opportunity to buy life insurance (compared to 74 percent of married people). We also found that those singles who did recall having an opportunity to buy life insurance are almost as likely to buy life insurance as married households (51 percent versus 58 percent). Companies could grow their life business by more aggressively pursuing this untapped market.”
The study found that single mothers are the largest market with unmet life insurance needs.
With the number of Americans with life insurance being at its lowest in 50 years, according to a LIMRA survey, experts are encouraging consumers to invest in a policy more than ever to provide their families a safety net.
