Singapore's life insurance business down 1% in Q1 to S$649.4m

SINGAPORE'S life insurance business inched down one per cent to S$649.4 million in total weighted new business premiums in the first quarter ended March 31, 2015.

The marginal change in the total weighted new business premiums - a way to assess the growth of the life insurance industry by measuring premiums collected on new policies - was due to the 22 per cent surge in sales of single-premium products being offset by the 9 per cent drop in sales of annual-premium products.

The Life Insurance Association, Singapore (LIA Singapore) on Thursday said that sales of single-premium products for the quarter totalled S$204.4 million, of which 16 per cent were CPF-funded policies.

As at end-March 2015, the life insurance industry paid out S$1.41 billion to policyholders and beneficiaries. Of this amount, S$1.23 billion was for policies that matured. The remaining S$175 million was for death, critical illness or disability claims.

LIA Singapore president Khoo Kah Siang said that the association's priority for 2015 lies in preparing for the smooth implementation of MediShield Life and working with the government to improve public education on health insurance and how MediShield Life and Integrated Shield Plans work.