A budding business: Selling insurance online

Four years ago a student at the Academy of Economic Studies (ASE) established a business that few expected to succeed, but which has already overshot the one million-euro mark. He started out by selling RCA (auto liability insurance) online, but now also sells home insurance and insurance that covers trips abroad.

The sale of insurance online is still in its early stages in Romania, with only a small percentage of all policies being sealed online, but there are already entrepreneurs who have reached several million euros’ worth of business from online policies.

In 2006 Alexandru Pintilie, an ASE student, started a business that has already overshot the one million-euro mark last year, with 2 million euros expected for this year. Pintilie, now 25, is the majority shareholder of Pintilie Broker de Asigurare (Pintilie Insurance Broker), which owns two websites that sell insurance online: rca-ieftin.ro and asiguratorii.ro, the latter launched this month. The firm has another two partners: Vlad Dorofte (26) and Valentin Radu (29), who became shareholders later.

Last year the rca-ieftin.ro website sold 5 million RON’ worth of policies (gross underwritten premiums), but there is no profit to talk about, because all the money is being reinvested, Pintilie says.