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."
The Executive Hydroelectric Commission of the Lempa River, is inviting bids for the procurement of an insurance program that includes medical and hospital insurance, group life, motor and miscellaneous policies.
The purpose of the tender is to contract an insurance program for the Executive Hydroelectric Commission of the Lempa River (CEL), comprising of Hospital Medical insurance, Group Life, Motor and Miscellaneous policies for the period 2012-2013.
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.
Cover against damages relating to cars, fires and earthquakes make up 66.4% of total premiums.
According to the Guatemalan banking regulator (Sib), at the end of 2009, accidents accounted for 18.1% and life insurance 15.5%.
However, Sigloxxi.com reports a gradual increase in the contribution of life insurance premiums to the total over the last four years, and growth of 10.9% in 2009.
During the first five months of the year, insurance companies had profits of $11 million, 12.8% less than the same period last year.
The main reason for the decline in profits of the Guatemalan insurance companies was the accident rate. As of May 2009, the rate was at 65.8%, while in May 2008, it was at 56.5%.
Additionally, Mario Mendizábal, President of the Guatemalan Association of Insurance Institutions (AGIS, acronym in Spanish), indicated to the website Sigloxxi.com, that “the crisis has had an effect on insurance sales, but it hasn’t affected all types of insurance. Among the evidence is collective life insurance (which is paid by companies to its employees), which increased by 17%, says Mendizábal. On the other hand, individual life insurance policies fell 6%.”
Insurance premiums in Honduras grew by $35 million in 2008, reaching a total of $282 million.
The market was led by Interamericana Insurance with 25.1% of the total ($70 million), followed by Insurance Atlántida with 17.3% ($48 million) and HSBC Insurance with 15.2% ($42 million).
An article in La Prensa of Honduras described the composition of the market: "General insurance has 56.1% ($158 million) of the market, followed by life insurance with 25.7% ($72 million), accidents and illnesses with 16% ($45 million) and sureties with 2.2% ($6 million.)"
The country is ranked among the last places on the list for Latin America; only 10% of the populations uses some kind of insurance.
According to PRENSALIBRE.com: "Official data reveals that approximate spending is a little more than $377.87 million (Q3 billion) per year, some $29.47 (Q234) per inhabitant.
Even though Guatemala is considered a high risk country, because it is vulnerable to natural catastrophes and high levels of delinquency, life insurance is the product that is least obtained by Guatemalans - only 20% of the population get this type of service -."