More than 9.3 million individual protection policies were in force at the end of 2022, the latest Health & Protection Individual and Business Protection Report has found.
The figures cover 10 major providers in the UK individual protection market and apply to people covered for life insurance, critical illness, income protection or business protection.
On a like-for-like basis among insurers who reported for both 2022 and 2021, 8.3 million individual protection policies were in force in 2022, down marginally from 8.31 million a year earlier.
However, like-for-like new business sales across the market were up by more than 7% or 69,847 to reach 1,067,327 from 997,480 a year earlier.
The report also found that while life claims had started to ease, critical illness and income protection claims were continuing to rise.
The full results and market analysis can be found in the Health & Protection Individual and Business Protection Report which is available for all advisers, intermediaries and brokers to download for free from this link or by clicking on the front cover below.
