‘Anything can happen to anybody’: Kobe Bryants tragic death led to a life insurance boom – Yahoo Money

In the days following Kobe Bryants tragic death in a helicopter crash, fans all over the world mourned the NBA all-stars death. And some were also motivated to protect their own families if something terrible happened to them.

The volume of life insurance application requests and submissions spiked in the days after the 41-year-olds death on Jan. 26, 2020, according to True Blue Life Insurance, an online aggregator and comparison site for life insurance.

Read more: 10 simple things you can do to protect your family and money

Application requests jumped by 50% on the Tuesday after Bryants death, 52% on Wednesday, and 55% on Thursday, while the volume of submitted applications increased by 58% on Sunday, Jan. 26 the same day as the crash and 61% on Monday. The spike subsided to normal levels within a week.

One of the main triggers when people buy life insurance is someone they know passes away, said Brian Greenberg, founder and CEO True Blue Life Insurance. In a lot of the phone calls to our agents, Kobe came up.

A view of the giant mural by the street artist Jorit Agoch, depicting Kobe Bryant, in the Montedonzelli district of Naples. (Photo: Marco Cantile/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Jen Plisch, a sales agent with the company for four years, recalled that several people mentioned Bryant in the week after his death while signing up for insurance. One, in particular, stood out to her.

A mother of six children called in, telling Pilsch she had been meaning to get life insurance on everyone in her family, but kept procrastinating. But Bryants death triggered the woman, whos in her early 30s, to finally do it. She bought policies for herself, her husband, and each of her children.

A lot of times [life insurance] is on the back burner until something happens, Pilsch said, adding that the NBA legends death got people thinking that anything can happen to anybody.

January is traditionally the busiest time of the year for True Blue, Greenberg said. People often have conversations with family during the holidays where death and life insurance comes up. Many make resolutions to look into buying a policy in the new year, he said.

Fans react as they watch the "Celebration of Life for Kobe and Gianna Bryant" service on an mobile device outside the Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles on February 24, 2020. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP) (Photo by MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)

Bryants passing accelerated many of those plans.

I think he was so well-known, so well-liked and he was young with children. Its just a similarity effect, Greenberg said. Its not like Kobe Bryant needed life insurance.

Usually people are motivated after someone they know passes suddenly and they dont have life insurance. They may set up a GoFundMe campaign to pay for the funeral or other ongoing financial burdens, Greenberg said.

One of Bryants many lasting legacies could be helping families avoid that fate.

Weve never seen a spike like we did with Kobe, Greenberg said of other celebrity deaths. We called it the Kobe Bryant effect.

Janna is an editor for Yahoo Money andCashay. Follow her on Twitter@JannaHerron.

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'Anything can happen to anybody': Kobe Bryants tragic death led to a life insurance boom - Yahoo Money