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IPT receipts hit over GBP1 billion in November 2024

According to this morning’s HMRC data, Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) receipts reached £1.2 billion in November 2024, bringing the eight-month 2024/25 total to £6.65 billion. The total IPT revenue now exceeds last year’s eighth-month total for the 2024/25 tax year (£6.02 billion) by 10.4% or £627 million.
Posted on Friday Dec 20

Healthy life expectancy data hint at post pandemic recovery

New figures published last week by ONS show Healthy Life Expectancy for younger age groups is lower than a decade ago although older ages have seen a slight increase.
Posted on Wednesday Dec 18

Treatments through PMI hit record in first half of the year

Over seven in 10 of all private health treatments are now being funded via PMI. Record H1 in 2024 for PMI-funded health admissions as employers expand coverage to healthcare schemes.
Posted on Thursday Dec 12

Significant growth opportunity for mutual life insurance

Broadstone has launched a new Report – The Mutual Impact – highlighting the “significant growth opportunity” for the mutual life insurance sector given their ability to support customers in an uncertain economic backdrop.
Posted on Monday Dec 9

Life claims a balance of risk

Momentum is building for beneficiary nomination as an alternative to trusts, the latest joint report from Swiss Re and Insuring Change shows.
Posted on Tuesday Nov 12

Younger men making positive progress regarding mental health

Around three quarters of Gen Z men (76%) would speak to someone about their own mental health. Gen Z men are engaging more with digital support and social prescribing than turning to medication like anti-depressants.
Posted on Thursday Nov 7

Over two fifths of adults have not written a will

Research from Canada Life reveals the UK cities with the highest proportion of adults who do not have a will in place. Adults in Leeds are least prepared with 57% not having written a will, whereas in Brighton just 36% of people do not have a will in place. Less than half (49%) of UK adults have discussed their end-of-life wishes with their loved ones
Posted on Thursday Nov 7

Shocking statistics reveal lack of income protection take up

A new survey from the income protection experts at Shepherds Friendly has revealed shocking statistics into the lack of income protection take up in the UK. Only 14% of Brits have income protection. Men are more likely to take out income protection compared to women (17% vs 11%). 29% of Brits without income protection regret not taking out a policy.
Posted on Tuesday Nov 5

Simplify workplace disability and life assurance cover rules

Swiss Re calls for the simplification of workplace disability and life assurance cover rules and Ron Wheatcroft Technical Manager at Swiss Re, explains Swiss Re’s proposals and why simple changes to workplace disability and life assurance cover could promote a more resilient workforce while alleviating legislative burdens on employers and government.
Posted on Tuesday Oct 29

Baby bust as parents get older and thinner on the ground

The most common age to have a baby is 30-34. Since 2015, women have been more likely to have a baby over the age of 40 than under the age of 20. They’re more likely to have babies in their late 30s than their early 20s. The average age of fathers increased to 33.8, while mothers' average age remained at 30.9. There were 591,072 live births in England and Wales, the lowest number of births since 1977. The fertility rate in England and Wales dropped to 1.44 children per woman, its lowest since records began in 1938. The ONS has published details of Births in 2023: Births in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics
Posted on Monday Oct 28

New life expectancy figures hint at post pandemic recovery

New figures published today by ONS reveal a bounce back in life expectancy in 2021-23 as the impact of the high mortality rates seen during the coronavirus pandemic reduces.
Posted on Wednesday Oct 23

Almost half of drinkers plan to reduce alcohol intake

The younger generations are most likely to reduce, or completely stop, their alcohol intake over the next year. Key motivators include being physically healthier, saving money, wanting to lose weight and to improve mental wellbeing. However, there’s still confusion when it comes to ‘safer’ levels of drinking.
Posted on Wednesday Oct 23

12m delay social care plans until government confirms policy

47% of over 45s – 12 million people – say they are delaying making financial preparations for later-life care until government plans for care are confirmed. Majority (53%) – 13 million – left confused by government announcements on funding of residential care. Attention now turns to the upcoming Autumn Budget following the scrapping of the proposed care cap by the Chancellor.
Posted on Tuesday Oct 22

7 year life expectancy difference from adjacent postcodes

Broadstone in Poole tops life expectancy analysis of every UK postal district, with Sandbanks in Poole and Solihull in Birmingham making up the top three. Districts of Glasgow, Grimsby and Hull have shortest life expectancies.
Posted on Tuesday Oct 22

Policyholder expectations pose challenges for life insurers

Best-in-class life insurers – those delivering quantifiably outstanding customer experience – achieve a 38% higher Net Promoter Score (NPS®) than their mainstream counterparts. 67% of best-in-class carriers are ready to leverage generative AI to innovate their policyholders’ experience and optimize operations. Life insurance industry must shift perception away from simply ‘death insurance’ to engage new generation of policyholders.
Posted on Tuesday Oct 15

Insurers must closely monitor impact of vaping on mortality

Insurers should start differentiating between vapers and smokers, so that they can gather data and insights, in preparation for when more is revealed about the health implications of vaping, says Hymans Robertson. Vaping is a significant risk factor for future mortality that insurers shouldn’t overlook or conflate with smoking. The limited insights on vaping to date, point to the impacts on health being significant.
Posted on Thursday Oct 10

IPT receipts hit GBP4.42bn in first five months of 2024

IPT receipts hit £4.42 billion through the first five months of 2024/25 according to the latest HMRC data released this morning, exceeding the same period last year (£3.92 billion) by 13%.
Posted on Friday Sep 20

Covid19 leading to longest era of peacetime excess mortality

Report suggests potential excess mortality in the general population of up to 3% for the US by 2033 and 2.5% in the UK, the longest period of elevated peacetime excess mortality in the US. Key driver of excess mortality is the lingering impact of COVID-19; both as a direct cause of death, and as a contributor to cardiovascular mortality. Reducing the impact of COVID-19 on elderly and vulnerable populations will be key to excess mortality returning to zero.
Posted on Monday Sep 16

Life savings market sea change can reduce pensions gap

US annuity sales are at their highest level since records began, with UK life-savings product sales following a similar trajectory. The favourable convergence we're experiencing now – a growing retiree population just as annuities regain their lustre – has potential to make a significant dent in the pension savings gap,
Posted on Thursday Sep 5

Record private health admissions driven by PMI

The latest PHIN data finds that in Quarter 1 (January to March) 2024 there were more private hospital admissions (238,000) than in any previous quarter on record.
Posted on Tuesday Sep 3

FCA announces work into pure protection market

The FCA intends to launch a market study into how pure protection insurance products are sold following concerns that competition is not working well in the market. The study will be launched later in 2024/25.
Posted on Wednesday Aug 28

Families overpaying IHT on life insurance policies

6,810 estates paying inheritance tax included life insurance policies which can be excluded from IHT if put into trust. The life insurance policies were worth £819m which means up to £327m of inheritance tax may have been paid unnecessarily. Putting life insurance policies into trust is straightforward and can reduce future bills. Nearly 7,000 families paid inheritance tax on life insurance policies according to HMRC figures released this week, but many would have escaped a bill if their policy was written into trust.
Posted on Tuesday Aug 13

Employees demand support in ever wider array of areas

More than 20% of employers expect increased demand for caring, fertility, neurodiversity, addiction, and gender identity. Employers are facing great challenges in the areas where employees need support and there is now a huge variety of issues to be managed, according to new research from Towergate Health & Protection.
Posted on Tuesday Aug 13

Clearing the air the plan for a smoke free generation

The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) has published its latest thought leadership ‘Think’ piece, authored by leading Public Health expert Nicola Draper, titled ‘Clearing the air: the UK’s plan for a smoke free generation’.
Posted on Tuesday Aug 6

What the rise in life assurance claims means for employers

There has been an increase in the number of group life assurance claims since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic. Several factors are contributing to this trend, including: the ageing workforce; late detection of health conditions; lack of access to NHS; changes to work life balance; and mental health problems. These go hand-in-hand with an increase in awareness by employers of the risks associated with these factors, naturally leading to new group life schemes coming to market to cope with demand. This all translates into an increase in claims.
Posted on Thursday Jun 20