Insurance Trends after 9-11

Americans have been increasingly concerned with the well being of their families, especially after the fear that September 11th brought. People were left scared, most of all about their families. People began thinking where would my family be if I was gone. This of course caused many Americans to begin thinking about life insurance.

This uncertainty that was heightened by September 11th caused increased sales in life insurance at the end of 2001. According to LIMRA international the increase of life insurance sales may have gone up almost ten percent at the end of 2001. This would bring life insurance sales to it highest point in almost two year. Polls organized by Northwestern Mutual Financial Network also showed an increase of disability insurance sold, of around eight percent. A huge increase in the sales of all forms of insurance was seen in the months following September 11th.

Some people attributed this increase to a new pride that insurance agents and financial planners had in their jobs. These individuals saw the good that life insurance was bringing many families; they began to have a sense of accomplishment. Much as the rest of the country was going through a period of extreme patriotism, these agents were going through similar feeling concerning their jobs. They felt that selling people these products was almost a good deed on their part. The most convincing sales person is one who believes in what he is selling, and at that point many of them did. It is probable that this new found pride in insurance combined with a country of people more concerned with the financial future of their families caused this increase in life insurance sales.

Though this may have been the trend people were most certainly not admitting it. In fact surveys showed that despite the sales, people said they were less likely to seek out life insurance or financial help. These surveys showed people were almost twenty percent less likely to purchase new life insurance. This was most likely due to an uncertainty in the economy or in the future of their jobs.

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