US insurer BlueCross BlueShield, has announced the opening of its operations in the country, which will be part of the Puerto Rican Triple-S Group.
From a statement issued by BlueCross BlueShield Costa Rica:
Insurer arrives in the country with plans for complementary health
• Member of the BlueCross BlueShield Association (BCBSA), an organization of more than 37 healthcare companies in the United States and other countries and which serves, through them, over 100 million policyholders.
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%.
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."
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.
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%).
The Central Bank of Costa Rica is putting to public consultation the Regulation for Defence and Consumer Protection Insurance.
The regulation will be under consultation until 27 December.
Nacion.com reports that "According to this regulation, all natural or legal persons who are properly identified can make complaints or appeals with insurance firms provided these requests relate to their interests or legally recognized rights."
A report by Fitch notes the momentum in the insurance sector in Central America and its growth potential.
From the report by Fitch Central America is entitled "Performance of Insurance Industry Central America: Well Positioned for Growth ":
The insurance industry in Central America managed to increase premium production by 12% compared to 2010, where Panama, Guatemala and Honduras recorded an above-average growth.
A low penetration level of insurance as related to GDP allows for sustainable growth of insurance businesses.
In the past five years, Panama has seen an explosion of commercial development and an influx of insurance companies. The country is about to remake its insurance legislation, which is also aimed at helping the country become a regional hub for insurance and reinsurance, according to Carlos Abrahams, a director at Global Intermediaries.
With the entry of the US firm BMI, Guatemalans now have a new health insurance option available in the country.
The Superintendency of Banks (SB) has authorized a change in the corporate name of the company, which was registered in the country as the BMI Insurance Company of Guatemala, Sociedad Anonima.
Once the process in the SB has been finalised, the Monetary Board must then authorize the changes.