Insurance market returns to slow growth

TIRANA, August 30 – The Albanian insurance market returned to growth last July after the 2.15 percent shrink it registered in the first half of this year. Data published by the Financial Supervisory Authority showed a 0.96 percent year-on-year growth of the market during the January-July period. Gross insurance premiums during the first seven months reached 4.8 billion lek, (around 48 million dollars), 460,000 dollars more compared to the same period last year, despite the continuous considerable drop in the number of insurance contracts.
The number of contracts during the January-July period fell to 379,459, some 14.6 percent less over the same period last year, said the authority.
The market continued to be non-life oriented with about 89.4 percent of the overall premiums volume, leaving life insurance with a share of about 9.78 percent and reinsurance with 0.79 percent.
Gross written premiums from voluntary insurance account for 49.16 percent, while compulsory insurance premiums for 50.84 percent of the market premiums.
Meanwhile, the number of claims continued rising registering a 27.4 percent increase. Insurance companies paid out 1 billion lek (10 million dollars), or 86.6 percent of the total damage, in motor insurance policies.
The number of paid claims during the first seven months of this year reached 8,764, increasing by 1,671 year-on-year. The majority of claims, some 8,719 were paid by non-life insurers.
Gross written non-life premiums registered a 0.93 percent decrease compared to January-July 2009, dropping to 4.3 billion lek with the number of contracts dropping by 16.7 percent.
Meanwhile, the life gross written premiums registered a 14.5 percent increase with the number of contracts increasing by 9.6 percent, said the Financial Supervisory Authority in its report.
According to the Financial Supervision Authority, Albania continues to be one of the countries having the lowest annual consumption per capita of insurance.
Albanians pay on average 20 dollars annually for compulsory and voluntary insurance of vehicles, property and life, a small amount compared to other European countries.
The insurance market continues to be dominated by Sigal which holds 25.2 percent of the compulsory and 38.8 percent of the voluntary market, according to the Authority.
State-owned insurer Insig, which has been put on the privatization list of public assets, is currently the fifth biggest insurer, controlling 7.3 percent of the compulsory market and 11 percent of the voluntary.