Leonardo Badea, președinte ASF: Asistăm la o dinamică pozitivă a sectorului Asigurărilor!
Source: Financiarul.ro.
Trends in the Romanian Insurance Market: 2018 Overview
The year 2018 witnessed a notable increase in the number of RCA policies compared to the previous year, while life insurance premiums remained at their highest levels in recent years!
RCA Policies and Premium Trends
In 2018, the average annual RCA premium saw a decline of approximately 12%, settling at 612 lei. When adjusted for the varying durations of policies, the total number of RCA contracts finalized by December 31, 2018, rose by 11% compared to the same period in the previous year, reaching 5,873,613 contracts.
Home Insurance Market Insights
The overall home insurance market, encompassing both mandatory and optional policies, experienced a 4% increase in gross premiums written in 2018 compared to the prior year. However, the total gross claims paid out decreased by 13%. Additionally, voluntary home insurance subscriptions grew by around 5% year-on-year.
Capital Quality in the Insurance Sector
The significant proportion of Tier 1 capital within the total eligible own funds indicates that the capital held by Romanian insurance companies is of high quality, predominantly consisting of equity. By the end of 2018, the eligible own funds available to cover the Solvency Capital Requirement (SCR) reached 5.10 billion lei, with unrestricted Tier 1 elements making up the largest share at 89%.
Overall Market Performance
By the close of 2018, the total number of active insurance contracts increased by 5% from the previous year, totaling 14,998,578 contracts. General insurance contracts accounted for 89% of this total, marking an 8% rise compared to the end of 2017. The total assets of insurance companies grew by 3.28% in 2018 compared to the previous year, reflecting ongoing improvements in solvency indicators. By December 2018, all insurance firms met both the SCR and Minimum Capital Requirement (MCR) standards, with market ratios for SCR and MCR exceeding the required thresholds-1.71 and 3.87, respectively.
Technical Reserves and Health Insurance Growth
As of December 2018, the total gross technical reserves established by insurance companies surpassed 16 billion lei, marking a 5% increase from the end of 2017 (15,636,987,050 lei). Of these reserves, 56.07% were allocated for general insurance, while 43.93% were designated for life insurance. Health insurance premiums reached 335 million lei by the end of 2018, reflecting a remarkable 60% increase from the previous year. The number of active health insurance contracts surged by approximately 33%, with health insurance representing 95.31% of the general insurance market share.
Overall Growth in Insurance Premiums
In 2018, insurance companies regulated by the ASF reported gross premiums written amounting to 10.14 billion lei, an increase of 4.5% from 2017. The gross premiums for general insurance rose by 4.6%, while life insurance premiums saw a growth of 4.3%.
In conclusion, 2018 marked a continuation of the positive momentum in the life insurance sector, with gross premiums remaining at their highest levels in recent years.
