Generali premiums up 25% in H1

Generali Asigurari Insurance Company, controlled by the third leading insurer in Europe, Generali, collected 123bn lei in H1 premiums, compared with 74bn lei the year ago period, that is an actual increase of 25%, without taking the devaluation into account.

“The increase is satisfactory, particularly because our company does not provide mandatory civil auto liability insurance products,” Emil Boldus, chairman of the company’s board told Ziarul Financiar. The highest increase was registered by the premiums collected from car insurance (casco) policies, which went up from 27bn lei to 58bn lei, that is nearly half of the total premiums collected.

“The weight of this segment can be explained by insuring the leasing contracts for Porsche and Fiat importers,” Boldus explained.

New car imports doubled in H1 this year, prompted by the lower customs duties for leasing. More than 90% of the total damages paid by the company over H1 were those related to the car insurance segment, that is 23.9bn lei out of 24.9bn lei. “We will enter the civil auto liability insurance market in 2003, as well, ” Boldus said.