Critical Illness Incidence Rates Working Party – members

Application closing date: 30 November 2025

The IFoA is seeking to appoint both members and suitably experienced non-members to join the health and care practice area’s Critical Illness Incidence Rates Working Party. 

 

Background 

Critical illness insurance products continue to be a vital solution in many markets for protecting individuals against the financial risks of acquiring a critical illness. Within the IFoA, the Continuous Mortality Investigation (CMI)’s Assurances Committee has produced, over many years, several working papers and critical illness (CI) claim rate tables for insured populations based on data submitted by CMI data contributors. These are useful for many actuarial applications, including supporting the pricing and reserving of CI portfolios.  

There is potential to build on the industry's understanding of CI rates by researching population health datasets (in particular the Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES) data from NHS England) and developing CI incidence rates for the general population.    

Some of these aims have been addressed and developed in previous IFoA/SIAS papers in both 2006 and 2013. As the latest of these, CIBT08, is centred around 2008, the table is 16 years old and there are questions about how relevant it is when considering today’s experience. It is proposed that the approaches used in previous work are revisited and brought up to date with the latest population health datasets and analysis techniques.  

In addition to the traditional audience, actuaries working within the fields of life and health, the working party can deliver output of interest to those working within the field of population health management. This would reinforce how IFoA members can work in the public interest and demonstrate how standard actuarial techniques (CI experience investigations) can be useful for public health organisations. It would help raise the profile of the profession, and showcase the value that actuaries can bring when working with anonymised health data, to key stakeholders working on the provision and delivery of health services. 

Learn more about the working party in its terms of reference (PDF, 350 KB)

Time commitment

The time commitment varies but will not be more than a maximum of 2 hours per month. The working group will consist of quarterly meetings with more regular meeting as required. 

Next steps

If you are interested in this role and would like an informal conversation before applying, please email us at engagement.team@actuaries.org.uk.

If you have read all the above and would like to apply, please send us:

  • brief details of your relevant experience
  • your reasons for wishing to get involved
  • your ARN (if you are a member)
  • a brief copy of your CV and full contact details (if you are a non-member)
  • confirmation that you have read, understood, and agree to the information and requirements laid out in our volunteer information pack (please be aware that until we have received this confirmation, we will not be able to appoint you as a volunteer)

Please email all the above to engagement.team@actuaries.org.uk. Please note, we are unable to accept late applications.

We are committed to promoting diversity, equality of opportunity, and inclusion, within all our vacancies and we actively encourage applications from a diverse range of potential candidates. Recognising and embracing the unique and diverse talents of our volunteers is fundamental to the success of our organisation.

What you need to know

Volunteering provides you with a wide range of opportunities. With all rights and opportunities come responsibilities and we ask all our volunteers to comply with the terms of the IFoA’s governance manual and volunteer information pack. Before offering to provide support, please read through: what you need to know.