Working Paper 156 was published in November 2021. This paper summarises responses from a survey conducted by the CMI Income Protection Committee in Summer 2021. The survey sought views from CMI-subscribing insurers and reinsurers on the impact of COVID-19 on Income Protection providers’ business and experience, and their thoughts on the future. We were pleased to receive responses from ten Subscribers.
Qualitative views from the survey included the following:
- The impact on observed claim inception experience was mixed – a priori, the expectation may have been that claim inceptions would increase, reflecting COVID-19 cases, but a mix of factors could have impacted this, such as furlough, operational issues, and potential delays in diagnoses.
- Responses relating to the impact on claim termination experience were limited, and often mixed, perhaps reflecting a lack of credible (early) data and higher volatility overall.
- Considerable uncertainty was noted in respect of future inception and termination experience and the general view was that it is too soon to tell what future experience will look like – a range of factors could have an impact, including the NHS backlog, long COVID, mental health and economic recovery.
Key views on the impact of COVID-19 on IP business, included the following:
- The impact on business volumes written tended towards a decrease.
- There was a strongly positive view that there would be greater demand for Income Protection products in the future, due to increased awareness of this type of product as a result of COVID-19.
Please note that the above views are of those who completed the survey questionnaire, which may not be representative of the full market, and that, for some questions, there were limited or mixed responses.
Note: the working paper is available to Authorised Users only
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