The Panama Tourism Authority reports that the contract with which it provided free medical insurance for tourists ended on June 30.
From now on if visitors in Panama want to have coverage for medical emergencies they must take out their own insurance.
From a statement issued by the Tourism Authority of Panama:
The Panama Tourism Authority wishes to communicate to visitors that are in the national territory and those having Panama as their destination, that the insurance contract for tourists expired on June 30, 2014 and is therefore terminated.
Products in the category of life, accident and health lead the 6% increase in premiums seen in the first three months of the year compared with the same period in 2013.
Total premiums paid in the first quarter amounted to $42 million, of which 37.4% were for first party car insurance, 21.0 % for fire insurance and associated lines, 19.09 % for life insurance (individual and collective) and the remaining 6.01 % for health insurance.
Two years after the amendment to the Law of the sector, the insurance market covering risks for short periods at low costs has been consolidated.
Banks and supermarkets are some of the outlets that insurance companies use to market a product that has established itself as a commercial operation with a low risk for insurers.
"The results of the implementation of Law 12 of April 3, 2012 are apparent to Jorge Barreiro Troitiño, corporate vice president of Nacional de Seguros, who said that just after 2012 the number of customers the company has increased by 50%, reaching 80,000 customers. "
In the last interannual period personal insurance increased by 11%, general by 5% and compulsory by 9%.
From a bulletin on the Insurance Sector in November 2013 by the Superintendency of Insurance:
BASIC INDICATORS
The total amount of direct premiums collected reached c436,3 billion in November 2013. The involvement of voluntary insurance equaled the average of the last four annual periods - Nov 20l0-Nov 20l3), 73%.
Five years after the opening up of the market, there have been 500 new products and some prices have dropped by up to 40%, but penetration is still low.
In an interview with María Morales from Markets & Trends undertaken with the Superintendent of Insurance in Costa Rica, Tomas Soley, the official explained that the opening of the market has led competitors to offer more value added products.
Between January and September insurance sales increased by 8.5% compared to the previous year, totaling $892 million.
Most policies sold in that period were in the auto and health categories according to information from the Superintendency of Insurance and Reinsurance in Panama.
The auto insurance sector recorded sales of $153.7 million and health $146.5 million. In addition, group life insurance achieved sales of $110 million.
In the last five years penetration of the insurance market did not reach even 2% of GDP because people see insurance as an unnecessary expense.
According to Richard Cohen, executive president of the Salvadoran Association of Insurance Companies (ASES), penetration of this market has the potential to grow up to four times in the next few years. However, this depends on intermediaries applying the best strategies to introduce the product, because they will be the ones to negotiate the best options for a policy with clients.
Private insurers are beginning to outperform the state insurance company and have so far captured a 40% market share.
The ranking of the premiums made by the Superintendency of Banks and Other Financial Institutions (Siboif) reveals that in the case of Seguros América S.A.,in the first quarter of 2013, they led the market with 29.3% of the sector. The company following them is Instituto Nicaragüense de Seguros y Reaseguros (Iniser) with 26.4%, ASSA Compañía de Seguros SA with 18.9%, Seguros Lafise with 17,5% and Mapfre Nicaragua with 7,8%.
The insurance firm Assa has gained ground focusing on selling insurance to companies, and among the new participants in the market, it has obtained the best results.
Figures from the Superintendent of Insurance (SUG), reveal that for December 2012, Assa Insurance Company had the highest revenue from premiums of all the private firms and was one of the best earners.
During the first half of 2012, the insurance sector in Latin America had a premium volume of $77,085 million, maintaining growth rates of two digits.
According to César Quevedo, deputy director of the Institute of Science at Seguro de Fundación Mapfre, the insurance industry is "key" to this global market.
On presenting the report, "The Latin American insurance market," the official noted that this "is a key region for the present and future in global insurance."
Insurers paid $133 million to their customers during the first quarter of 2013, $47 million more than in 2012.
"The biggest financial outlays occurred in the lines of auto, health and fire, $29.7 million, $28 million and $16.3 million respectively," noted an article in Laestrella.com.pa.
As for companies, ASSA is a leader in the insurance market, having 20.22% of the sector, followed by Compañía Internacional de Seguros with 16.43% and in third place is Mapfre Panamá, S.A. with 12.79%.
A report by SUGESE contains information on Basic Indicators, Market Structure and Participants and Products.
December 2012 Bulletin from the Superintendent of Insurance (SUGESE):
Basic Indicators
The total amount of direct premiums was ¢466.2 billion in 2012, with 69% of that amount corresponding to voluntary insurance. The retention of these total direct premiums compared to 2011 remained at 81% and the total retained earned premiums (allocated ) increased from 96% in 2011 to 91% in 2012.
From January to December 2012, sales of insurance premiums reflected an increase of 8.16%, reporting a total of more than $138,635,000.
Panamaamerica.com.pa reports that "up to December 2012 were offered 85 million 879 thousand 82 dollars more than the previous year, which shows that consumers are becoming aware of the importance of having an insurance policy, indicated entrepreneurs from the insurance and reinsurance sectors in Panama. "
In Costa Rica, 4 years after the opening up of the sector, the 10 private insurance companies have a 9.8% market share.
The undisputed leader remains the Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS), with a 90.2% market share and among the private companies the strongest are Mapfre and Assa with a 9.6% share between them.
According to the Superintendent of Insurance, the largest segment of the market is the general insurance category (51%), followed by sickness insurance (26%) and personal life policies (26%).