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    The insurance market marks a historic record amid substantial increase in competition and the strength of the system

The insurance market marks a historic record amid substantial increase in competition and the strength of the system

 

Bucharest, 24 June 2022 - Gross written premiums (GWP) of Romanian insurance companies in the first three months of 2022 reached almost 4.66 billion lei, the highest quarterly value recorded in the history of the Romanian insurance market, up 46% compared to the same period last year.

Gross written premiums for general insurance increased by 53.9%, while life insurance premiums rose by 16.1%. The market driver continues to be the MTPL segment, with a 102.2% increase in gross written premiums to almost RON 2.4 billion. Significant growth was also recorded in the health insurance segment (+28%), CASCO insurance (+12.4%) and fire and natural disasters insurance (+11%). 

A remarkable development can also be seen in the level of competition in the market. At the end of the first quarter of 2022, the top four insurers had comparable double-digit market shares. The gap between the first place, held by Euroins Romania, and the fourth place, Omniasig VIG, was less than 7.5 percentage points. By comparison, at the end of the first quarter of 2021, there was a difference of more than 9 percentage points between the first and the fourth position in the ranking. The diversification process is even clearer when strictly related to MTPL insurance. In this line of insurance, three companies have double-digit market shares, while three other companies control notable percentages of over 7%. The top two players controlled 55.6% of the market at the end of March 2022, while in the same period of 2021, the top two companies combined over 77%, with the other players having negligible market shares.

The results for the first three months of 2022 show that the substantial increase in written premiums has taken place on a sound basis as key solvency and liquidity indicators have improved. During the period, insurance companies paid claims of over RON 1.5 billion. The liquidity ratio climbed to 2.44, up from just 1.59 in the first quarter of 2021 and 2.35 at the end of last year. At the same time, the SCR and MCR ratios, which highlight the solvency of companies in the context of Solvency II rules, were overunited across the market, with an 11% increase for the SCR, the main solvency indicator.

A considerable improvement can also be seen in the loss ratio and combined loss ratio indicators. Although it remains above market level, a level that indicates that insurance companies have cumulative claims payments and expenses above the level of earned premiums, the combined loss ratio decreased from 110.54% in the first part of 2021 to 106.13% at the end of March 2022. It is worth noting that 3 of the 7 companies authorized by the A.S.F. to practice also MTPL recorded subunit combined loss ratios.

The report on insurance market developments in the first quarter of 2022 can be found HERE. (is available in Romanian)