Protection policy sales nudged up in the third quarter of the year, led by income protection (IP) and standalone critical illness (CI) product lines.
Data from Gen Re showed 516,283 individual protection policies were sold from July to September, up 1.8% or 9,206 from the 507,077 a year earlier.
The figures were a reversal of fortune from the second quarter which showed a 2.3% drop from the previous year.
Overall, 1,531,721 retail protection policies were sold in the first nine months of 2025 according to the reinsurer’s data – up by 16,248 or 1% from 1,515,473.
Gen Re noted that IP and standalone CI both performed well with each recording their best quarter of sales in at least 10 years.
Premium growth
Growth has been much stronger in terms of value of cover being taken out, as measured by annual premium equivalent (APE).
This reached £211m in the third quarter, the third consecutive quarter of exceeding the previous year and also its highest level in more than a decade, the reinsurer said.
Furthermore, the underwritten whole of life market performed exceptionally well, with premium volumes up 40% compared to the same point last year.
The term assurance market, up 7% has also performed strongly in this regard, with CI and IP (both up 3%) also improving.
Guaranteed whole of life APE was down by 16% as regulatory action and consumer uncertainty has impacted that product set.
Overall, total APE of £608m was up by 5.5% from £576m at the same point last year.