The Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (LIAM) in a report attributed the overall dip to the 24.5% contraction of premiums in investment-linked policies.

It said the industry is expected to achieve single-digit growth for the second half of the year given the weak global and local economies.

It also reported a rise in direct channel sales for temporary insurance, critical illness insurance and medical and health insurance, with annualised premiums and the total sum seeing growth levels of 63.9% and 71.5% respectively.

Mark O’Dell, LIAM CEO, said the life insurance industry was working together with the government to provide relief measures and soften the impact of Covid-19.

“The industry has granted a 90-day deferment period or no-lapse guarantee of three months for policyholders who are impacted by this pandemic.

“During this period, insurance companies will continue to provide insurance protection to affected policyholders if they are not able to pay for their premiums,” he said.

He added that 1,028,811 policyholders had been granted premium deferment relief to date, involving premium payments of RM1 billion.

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