"Much of this is continuing to be driven by the new trends such as innovative new entrants and breakthrough initiatives that first emerged last year"
IRESS recorded 187,933 protection new business applications in Q1 2018 compared to 155,946 over the same period in 2017 - a rise of 20.5%.
This equated to a monthly average of 62,644 protection applications compared to the previous highest monthly average of 51,744 in Q3 2017; an increase of over 21%.
Multi benefit products have seen the sharpest increase from Q1 2017 to Q1 2018 with a material increase of 40% in new business applications.
Life term insurance was the second biggest increase in new business from Q1 2017 to Q1 2018 with a rise of 33%.
Income protection saw the third largest increase when comparing Q1 2017 to Q1 2018, up 15% in new business applications.
Dave Miller, executive general manager (commercial) at IRESS, said: “The increase in protection policies we have recorded in Q1 2018 is hugely encouraging.
“2017 was already a record year in terms of protection new business applications and it looks as though 2018 is set to be even better. Much of this is continuing to be driven by the new trends such as innovative new entrants and breakthrough initiatives that first emerged last year, which are all helping to reinforce the importance of protection. And what we’re really starting to see is that technology - and the accessibility, efficiency and great service it can offer – is now playing a key role in the growth of the protection market.”
