P&C agents looking to supplement personal-lines income mightbe well positioned to broaden their books of business withindividual life-insurance sales—but first they need to betterunderstand what's stopping many people from buying the coverage inthe first place.

Those P&C agents looking to enter or expand in thelife-insurance market could gain insights into what they are upagainst by studying the results of a pair of surveys by DeloitteResearch of 1,071 consumers with the coverage and 1,000 who areuninsured.

Specifically, the Deloitte surveys examine how respondentsperceive the value of life insurance, where the coverage ranksamong their other financial priorities, as well as their saleschannel preferences. The surveys also identify some of themarketing challenges life sellers face in expanding theirpenetration among both the uninsured and underinsured.

The surveys focus on three distinct time perspectives: howrespondents think about life insurance today, a look at their pastpurchase experiences, as well as a peek ahead into how (and howmuch) respondents intend to buy in the near term.

The results are summarized and analyzed in a report by DeloitteResearch on “TheVoice of the Life Insurance Consumer: What Makes ProspectsTick,” with some of the highlights as follows:

• Current buyers more strongly understood the value and benefitslife insurance traditionally offers than did those withoutcoverage. Yet the surveys found plenty of opportunity to furthereducate even existing policyholders, as half or fewer of those withcoverage don't associate their policy with certain common needsthat can be filled by life-insurance products.

• While life insurance is not the top financial priority formost, the coverage is very prominent on the to-do list for manyrespondents. The survey found that a significant number ofconsumers intend to buy a new policy in the next two years, bothamong those currently without insurance as well as amongrespondents looking for additional coverage beyond what theyalready have.

• The surveys revealed a fundamental failure to communicate, asmany of those who are currently uninsured noted that a prime reasonthey don't have coverage is no one has asked them to buy it. Eventhose with insurance open to buying additional coverage often saythey have not received offers from their agents orcarriers.

• However, most of those who have received solicitations to buya policy said those pitches ended up not influencing their purchasedecision. So they are either not hearing from life-insurancesellers, or the sales message they are receiving is notpersuasive.

• At the same time, the surveys indicate that carriers cannotafford to wait for prospects to seek them out, as many respondentssaid they don't shop for life insurance on their owninitiative.

• A generation gap was uncovered in a number of responses,including the fact that the youngest consumers were much morelikely than older buyers to find the application and underwritingprocess to be too onerous.

• Financial triggers are very significant in the life-insurancepurchase decision (such as getting a raise, thereby easingaffordability concerns), and so are familiar life events (toprovide income replacement and asset protection after gettingmarried, having children or buying a home).

• However, because many respondents are either not aware of ordon't understand the broader roles and benefits of various types oflife insurance beyond merely providing death benefits, they don'tnecessarily think of the product as a more comprehensive,longer-term financial-planning solution—for example, how certainkinds of life insurance can help them fund their retirement orcollege expenses for their children.

Life insurers and their agents have some serious macroeconomichurdles to overcome as they look to increase sales and bolsterprofitability, with life insurance for many taking a back seat toother financial priorities as families deal with unemployment, asevere drop in the value of their homes or other pocketbookchallenges.

However, from these surveys it is clear that life insurance isvery much on the minds of many consumers—both those respondentswithout coverage as well as those who already have a policy.

Regardless of the state of the economy, life insurance fulfillsa variety of financial needs, but it must be more effectivelymarketed to make sure both the uninsured and underinsuredpopulations understand all that a life-insurance policy can offerthem.

A marketing campaign focused on educating the general population(perhaps even a joint, industry-wide initiative) might be calledfor since the survey showed that many respondents—even those whoalready have the coverage—do not fully appreciate the potentialbenefits versus the likely cost of life insurance. Suchinformation-based outreach efforts could help spur greaterpenetration, higher market share and organic growth for carriersand agents alike.

Far from being a mature market, there is a large uninsured andunderinsured population to target if the right products, marketingmessages and delivery systems can be devised and implemented tobring these prospects into the fold. In some cases, all you mightneed to do is ask.