The number of new insurance contracts took a dive from January 2009 to January 2010, marking a decrease of about 25 percent.
TIRANA, March 2 – Albania’s insurance sector shrank about 5 percent in January 2010 compared to a year earlier, the sector’s official watchdog organization said this week.
The Albanian Financial Supervision Advisory said income from insurance premiums in January 2010 reached about 634 million lek, or 5.33 percent less than in the same period last year.
The number of new insurance contracts took a dive in the same period, marking a decrease of about 25 percent.
Premiums in compulsory motor insurance reached 286 million leks, or about 19.51 percent less than in the same period last year.
In the past few years, the insurance market is improving in favor of voluntary insurance, which in January 2010 brought in 55 percent of insurance premiums. Voluntary insurance premiums reached about 349 million lek, or 10.6 percent more than in 2009.
Life insurance premiums in January 2010 reached 55 million leks, or about 18.24 percent less than the same period last year.
However, payment of damages was increased by about 70 percent compared to the same period last year. Most of the damage were paid for car accidents with 132 million leks, or 87.42 percent of total damages paid gross.
“The adoption of compulsory insurance law in the transport sector in early 2009 and subsidiary legislation in its implementation, is expected to affect the shortening of deadlines and increase the overall quality of indemnity against injuries,” according to the Albanian Financial Supervision Advisory.
