50% of consumers worldwide are considering buying life insurance, yet more than 40% leave the process confused or unconvinced, according to the World Life Insurance Report 2027 from the Capgemini Research Institute and LIMRA.
The findings point to problems in how insurers explain products, connect consumers with advisors and maintain contact after a policy is sold.
The report surveyed 6,175 consumers and 198 insurance executives across 18 markets. Capgemini provides technology consulting services to insurers, while LIMRA is an industry association supported by member carriers, giving both organizations commercial interests related to the sector examined.
Consumer interest remains relatively strong, but completion rates are weaker. One-quarter of consumers abandon the life insurance purchase process before finishing it, rising to 28% among people aged 18 to 40.
Product research is an early source of friction. Thirty-eight percent of consumers said life insurance information is too sales-focused, while 37% described it as overly technical or filled with jargon.
Affordability perceptions add another obstacle among younger buyers. Separate LIMRA research found younger US consumers estimate life insurance costs at 10 to 12 times their actual level.
Consumers also continue to prefer human involvement when making final coverage decisions, despite growing interest in generative AI for research. Two-thirds want to work with a human advisor when completing a purchase, while 85% want some advisor interaction during the process.
Advisor matching is another area where demand exceeds current insurer capabilities. Half of consumers prefer advisors with similar demographic characteristics because they believe those advisors are more likely to understand their circumstances.
Fewer than 25% of insurers currently have the ability to make those matches. Consumer preferences can include age, gender, language and cultural background.
The report identifies the top-performing 10% of life insurers as taking a different approach to advisor deployment and customer contact. These carriers are nearly twice as likely as mainstream peers to provide guidance based on a customer’s circumstances and life stage.
They are also almost twice as likely to contact customers around major life events rather than relying mainly on annual renewal communication. Advisor matching based on demographic and cultural characteristics is more than twice as common among these insurers.
Compensation structures differ as well. Top-performing carriers are more than three times as likely to reward advisors for maintaining long-term policyholder relationships instead of concentrating incentives primarily on new sales.
MetLife’s 2025 compensation structure provides one example cited in the analysis. Advisors receive compensation on new and renewal premiums, with a persistency bonus of up to 0.75% for agents maintaining retention rates above 93%.
Technology use also differs among stronger-performing carriers. These insurers are nearly three times as likely to maintain consumer information in one accessible data environment and three times as likely to deploy agentic AI for autonomous tasks.
Separate findings from the J.D. Power 2025 US Individual Life Insurance Study point to similar weaknesses in advisor engagement.
Only 19% of life insurance customers described their relationship with an agent or advisor as trusted, based on regular communication and consistent service practices.
J.D. Power found customer satisfaction was 253 points higher when advisors met that standard. The result suggests ongoing advisor contact remains closely associated with how policyholders assess their insurer relationship.
Capgemini and LIMRA also reported financial differences between the top-performing group and mainstream carriers. The leading insurers generated 41% higher revenue growth over the previous three years and recorded lapse rates 12% lower.
Post-sale communication appears to be one of the larger weaknesses. Nearly 40% of policyholders said they rarely or never hear from their insurer after purchasing coverage.
Among customers who eventually discontinue their policies, almost half leave within the first three years. Those early lapses occur before insurers have had much time to recover acquisition costs or establish a longer customer relationship.
Awareness of policy features is also limited. Only 29% of policyholders know they have flexible premium payment options, while 22% are aware of grace periods or policy loans.
The report therefore links weak retention partly to limited communication after purchase rather than premium costs alone. Consumers often hold policies without understanding options that might help them maintain coverage when their circumstances change.
