Insurers less reliant on reinsurance in 2007

Insurance companies relied more on their own ability to settle claims than on reinsurance last year, after reinsurance premiums fell against 2006, according to data from the 2007 report of the Insurance Supervisory Commission. On the general insurance segment, which accounts for 80% of the market, the share of premiums transferred for reinsurance fell from 32.04% in 2006, to 29.38% last year, meaning that insurers took on more risks. Out of the overall gross underwritten premiums, worth over 1.71 billion euros, more than 504 million euros were transferred to reinsurers. Reinsurance means transferring part of the risk taken on by the insurer to a reinsurance company. The reinsurer practically acts as an insurer of the insurance company. On the life insurance segment, reinsurance was slightly up, from 2.47% to 2.93%, however, the level is low. “An explanation for the decline in the share of reinsurance could be the fact that insurers operated more capital increases last year and decided to reinsure less. Anyway, reinsurance should be a serious concern for the companies,” says Bogdan Andriescu, managing partner of insurance and reinsurance broker EOS Risq and chairman of the National Union of Insurance Brokerage and Consultancy Companies in Romania (UNSICAR).