The life assurance industry was put on fresh alert over the amount of business being churned from one life assurer to another after the Association of British Insurers said sales of life and pensions products rose 11 per cent in the second quarter. Sales of life and pensions policies rose from £4.1bn to £4.5bn in the three months to June 30, on an annual premium equivalent basis, the ABI said. Single premium individual pensions new business rose 71 per cent to £7.2bn. The ABI said this was due mainly to a change in the timing of rebates to people contracting out of the state second pension. However, Ned Cazalet, independent life assurance analyst, said the ABI's own data showed that the majority of single premium personal pensions policies were not in fact new. Instead they represented existing pension policies surrendered and moved.Andrea Felsted