the polling company, inc. Survey Finds Minorities and Lower-Income Households Abandoned by Life Insurance Providers.

WASHINGTON -- Consumers who want and need life insurance the most - minorities those in lower-income households - are being abandoned by the marketplace, according to a new survey released today by Washington, DC-based market research and consulting firm the polling company(TM).

The survey found 92% of African Americans and 82% of Hispanics said they believe life insurance is essential, as compared to 72% of Whites. However, only 39% of African Americans reportedly own a life insurance policy - well under the national average of 47%. Forty percent of Hispanics polled said they own life insurance.

The new study was released as the National Association of Insurance Commissioners is discussing the possibility of creating a special sales license that would allow agents to sell only term life insurance as a way to reach this market.

The survey echoes earlier studies on life insurance coverage in the United States. LIMRA International, a leading insurance research group, released a study in April that exposed a substantial unmet need among consumers interested in purchasing life insurance products. In fact, the LIMRA survey found that 77% of consumers said they do not have a personal life insurance agent. A study by the insurance management association GAMA International released in March concluded that the need in lower and middle-income markets greatly exceeds the industry's capacity to serve them.

The new polling company(TM) survey indicated that the lower one's income, the higher the priority he or she assigns to life insurance. An overwhelming 79% of households earning between $30,000 and $50,000 per year - who generally have not accumulated assets sufficient to sustain a family following the loss of a breadwinner - responded that life insurance is among the most important type of insurance coverage to own. However, only 35% of Americans in that income bracket who were surveyed said they own life insurance.

"The survey data suggests that minorities and lower-income earners across the country represent a receptive but underserved market for life insurance products," explained polling company(TM) President and CEO Kellyanne Conway.

Hispanics surveyed were more likely than all other groups to have never met with a life insurance agent. In fact, a full 50% said they had no past experience with an agent at all. For blacks, 24% said they had no previous experience with an agent and 32% said they were unfamiliar with life insurance products.

"Part of the problem appears to be the lack of insurance agents available to deliver the personal attention consumers require in order to purchase life insurance," Conway said.

In fact, a May, 2005, survey by insurance consulting firm A.M. Best found that while African Americans now comprise about 14% of the U.S. population, only 2.5% of licensed insurance agents are African American. While Hispanics make up nearly 15% of the U.S. population, they represent just 3% of licensed insurance agents, the A.M. Best report noted.

Overall, 83% percent of respondents said they would prefer to personally buy life insurance from a professional insurance agent they know and trust, rather than through a professional agent they don't know, or through direct channels, such as the internet or toll-free numbers.

For more information or a summary of the survey, please call Kellyanne Conway at 202-667-6557, or Leslie Valenza at 202-973-1320.