asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce the total annual income of each life insurance company which has been operating in this country since 1967; the annual profits of each life assurance company since 1967; the number of policy holders each life assurance company had each year since 1967 with (i) profit endowment plans and (ii) unit linked plans; the number of policies which have been surrendered each year before they reach their maturity value; the costs which are incurred by each life assurance company in the administration of their policy; and if he has satisfied himself that (1) policy holders are getting reasonable returns from all the life assurance companies (2) that these companies are providing adequate information to their policy holders on the performance of their policies.
Written Answers. - Life Assurance Companies.
The effort and cost involved in compiling data going back over 20 years covering all the information requested by the Deputy is not warranted. However, in so far as it is published, the information is contained in the Insurance Annual Report (The Blue Book) for the relevant years and is available in the Dáil Library.
As the supervisory authority my primary role is to monitor the financial soundness and solvency of insurance companies in order to protect the interests of policyholders.
As regards life companies, new regulations entitled the European Communities (Life Assurance Accounts, Statements and Valuations) Regulations, were made on 18 December, 1986 and took effect from the 1986 year of account. These new regulations contain specific measures aimed at regulating the precise manner in which reserves of life offices are determined and the methods to be used in valuing assets and liabilities, and complement the solvency and reserving requirements set out in the earlier 1984 Life Assurance Regulations. From the supervisory point of view, the new returns enable a much greater in-depth analysis to be carried out on individual undertakings.
Actual fund management is a matter for each individual company. Therefore the level of returns to policy holders will vary from one company to another and as between one policy holder and another depending on the particular type of policy held and the performance of the relevant fund.
I understand that some life companies provide their policyholders, at least on an annual basis, with a statement regarding performance and the up-to-date position of their policies. In addition policy holders can at any stage, request from companies, details of the performance of their policies.