Insurance market down 4% in first four months

The insurance market saw a 4.4% decline in the first four months of the year, to 3.13 billion RON, according to the Insurance Supervisory Commission (CSA). The market is therefore continuing its decline, with gross premiums underwritten down 5% in the first quarter.

“General insurance saw the biggest decline, for multiple reasons, but the main one was that auto liability insurance premiums underwritten did not rise in line with expectations,” said Angela Toncescu, chairperson of CSA, at a seminar organised by the National Association of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies (UNSAR).

Overall general insurance underwritten premiums fell by 6.6% in the first four months of the year compared with the similar period of 2009, to 2.4 billion RON. Life insurance rose 6%, with premiums underwritten reaching 555 million RON. 2010 is the first year of crisis for the insurance sector, after the market stagnated last year.

Insurers settled 1.8 billion RON in overall claims in the first four months of the year, 13.6% less than in the similar period of last year. Claims settled for general insurance amounted to 1.6 billion RON, down 13%, and to 198 million RON for life insurance, down 16.7%.