Effective adviser customer communications and campaigning are behind a drop off in joint life policy sales.
This is according to Jennifer Gilchrist, protection industry affairs manager at Swiss Re, this afternoon who was asked by Health & Protection to elaborate about the reinsurer’s Term & Health Watch indicating joint life first death policies are now declining in favour of single-life solutions.
According to the findings, the number of new level term joint life policies fell from 79,166 in 2023 to 72,008 in 2024 and stands at 49,944 at the end of 2025 and a fall of 30.6% in one year and 36.9% over two years.
The reinsurer said this reflected increased focus on flexibility and customer outcomes and industry campaigns promoting the greater value of single life over joint life cover.
Quite an impact
“On the joint life side of things, you have a market that has level-term sales and decreasing-term sales,” Gilchrist explained.
“Level-term sales, we have seen quite an impact on that move from joint life to single life.
“In the mortgage market, joint life is more prevalent and the move from joint life to single life is a bit slower.”
Understanding the customer
Gilchrist maintained the sector is trying to ensure where joint life is still available, customers understanding what is right for them.
“And we’ve seen Alan Lakey with his Single Is Best campaign through CIExpert and also we’ve had a lot of discussion within the industry about economic abuse on how we can support vulnerable customers and thinking about that from the start,” she continued.
“So when the proposition is taken up by a customer, it that has longevity and is able to flex if the situation within the family changes.
“And if there is a divorce or break-up that the policies are structured in a way that will make sure that the client doesn’t need to start again almost.”
