Gen Re Announces 2018 U.S. Critical Illness Insurance Market Survey Results

STAMFORD, Connecticut, Oct. 16 -- General Reinsurance, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, issued the following news release:

Gen Re has released results of the U.S. Critical Illness Insurance Market Survey. This annual survey covers Traditional Individual and Group/Worksite Critical Illness (CI). The group/worksite segments (Issue Age and Attained Age products) account for the majority (85 percent) of sales.

Seventy-five carriers participated in this year's survey. Of those, 51 were actively selling a Critical Illness product; 16 were currently developing a CI product; and the remaining eight were exploring entry into the market. Participants reported $1.6 billion in CI in-force premium and over $652 million in new sales for 2017. All indicators suggest that the CI market remains in a period of healthy expansion:

* New carriers continue to enter the market.

* Existing carriers are adding new products.

* 64 percent of respondents plan to increase their focus on CI.

* Insurers expect to see annual sales growth of 22 percent - 38 percent.

* The majority of carriers are meeting or exceeding their expectations for sales, profitability, agent acceptance and consumer demand.

* 93 percent of carriers report claims matched or were better than their expectations.

The Market Survey is an annual survey produced by Gen Re, with the full results available only to participating companies.