Voluntary critical illness sales catching up to cancer, according to the annual Eastbridge voluntary sales study.

AVON, CONNECTICUT, USA (September 1, 2010)

Voluntary critical illness sales were up in 2009 but cancer sales lagged. In the latest Eastbridge annual U.S. Worksite Sales Report, critical illness sales increased almost 88 percent between 2008 and 2009 as compared to cancer sales which went down almost 8 percent.

"Historically, cancer sales have outpaced critical illness sales by a margin of four to one,” says Bonnie Brazzell of Eastbridge. In 2009, however, critical illness made significant inroads in shrinking that margin. “Cancer sales in 2009 still exceeded critical illness,” adds Brazzell “but the margin was down to two to one.”

In 2009, cancer sales were $436 million and accounted for about 8 percent of total voluntary sales (down from 9 percent in 2008). Critical illness sales were $225 million and the line increased its share of total sales from just over two percent to four percent. This is the second year in a row with significant gains in critical illness. The increase in 2008 (over 2007) was 19 percent.

“Many of those in the industry have been wondering when critical illness sales would replace cancer sales,” says Gil Lowerre, president of Eastbridge. “I’m not sure we will ever see cancer sales disappear completely but if cancer sales continue decreasing and critical illness increasing, we will see a shift to more critical illness than cancer,” adds Lowerre.

The U.S. Worksite Sales Report is an annual report conducted by Eastbridge for the past eleven years. Total voluntary sales for 2009 were $5.397, up 3.3 percent over 2008. The 2009 report includes detailed data on the performance of 60 worksite marketing carriers, both group and individual, and represents the largest number of carriers included in any industry sales report. The report is only available to participants. For more information about participating next year, contact Eastbridge at info@eastbridge.com or call (860) 676-9633.

Eastbridge Consulting Group, Inc. is a marketing advisory firm serving insurance and financial services organizations in the United States and Canada.