Value of total gross premiums from the first 9 months of 2018 up 2 percent to RON 7.47 billion

The value of total gross premiums subscribed in the first 9 months of 2018 by the 29 active insurance companies was RON 7.47 billion, a 2 percent increase over the same period of 2017, according to the vice-president of the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF), Cristian Rosu, cited by Agerpres.

“From the data available on the basis of the reports received on 30 September 2018, the value of the total gross premiums registered by the 29 active insurance companies was RON 7.47 billion, an increase of 2 percent over the same period of 2017. The market continued to be dominated by general insurance – a share of 79 percent – with a gross written premiums of RON 5.88 billion, increasing by 2 percent compared to the similar period of 2017, while life insurance accounted for 21 percent of the total gross premiums written, with a gross subscribed premium of RON 1.59 billion, registering a 4 percent increase compared to the same period of the previous year,” said Cristian Rosu.

Motor Third Party Liability Insurance (RCA), with a gross written premium of RON 2.69 billion, continued to account for 46 percent of the gross premiums written for general insurance.

The ASF official said that in the case of the MTPL insurance there was a decrease in the volume of gross written premiums by 6 percent compared to the first 9 months of the previous year, but the number of concluded insurance contracts increased (6,093,155 versus 5,643,732).

Cristian Rosu argues that from the statistical data available at this moment it can be appreciated that the insurance market has not changed significantly and he says that the trend will continue in 2019.

“However, we see 2019 as a challenging one for the industry, building on the goals we have set ourselves. One of these is to strengthen the implementation of the new directives that have produced substance changes in 2018, namely GDPR and IDD, the latter focusing on two extremely important directions: on the one hand, the distribution, regulated recently by Norm 19/2018, and on the other hand, the vocational training regulated by Norm 20/2018. Our main concern will be in the direction of the correct implementation of the provisions of the two laws, resulting in the conduct in the relation with the consumer. Moreover, the conduct in the relation with the consumer must result in the increase of insurance coverage, Romania having a penetration rate of only 1.21 percent of GDP versus much higher in developed countries (12 percent France and 6 percent Germania),” said Rosu.

He argued that the two indicators that give the overall picture of the insurance market, namely penetration and concentration, show a small market relative to GDP, which at first sight is a negative aspect. This must be seen as an opportunity though, as there is room for growth, since the Romanian market has a very high potential.

“In this regard, we will continue to get involved in the financial education started and we will also consider starting new activities so that the consumer of insurance products understands what products they need and what expectations they need to have both the purchased products and the services they need to receive from distributors and insurance companies,” said Rosu.

ASF Vice President Cristian Rosu attended the event “XPRIMM Time for Business – Challenges of the Year 2019”.