Another opportunity for agents to offer a valuable benefit
Legal service plans have been around for decades. But over the past few years, the industry has seen changes-and increased interest. Agents and brokers who understand legal plans and their features may find opportunities to help businesses and their employees find a new and valuable protection.
According to Dennis Healy, chief sales officer at ARAG, the biggest recent change is "activity." He explains, "In the group insurance world, we've seen a tremendous spike in the number of RFPs for legal plans for employer groups. The number of RFPs we've had this year over last is up 60%, and that's dramatic."
Healy says employers are showing interest not only in legal plans, but also in identity theft coverage. "Identity theft has massive buzz around it," he notes. "With all the data breaches taking place, and increased awareness around them, we're seeing considerable activity there."
Measuring the state of the benefits market to see what trends are at work is a necessary but imprecise exercise during a time when change is rampant. Some insurers with big stakes in the business look past their own company's market data. They sponsor independent research, polling employers and employees, to determine what trends are at work throughout the market, hoping for insights that eventually will lead to better business decisions and market penetration.
Among those that have recently shared their independently conducted research on the state of the market are MetLife, Aflac, Colonial Life and Lincoln Financial Group.
The caveat about all such studies is that access to research data in a fast-moving market doesn't guarantee easy decisions for those sponsoring the research.
