Between July and October 2020, the number of people in Guatemala exploring options for life insurance online increased by 3%, and the number of Panamanian consumers seeking auto insurance increased by 39%.
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During 2018, Guatemala's insurance sector increased 3% year-on-year, well below the 8% growth rate reported between 2016 and 2017.
According to figures presented by the Guatemalan Association of Insurance Institutions (AGIS), between 2017 and 2018 the total of premiums subscribed in the country went from $881 million to $907 million.
According to the association of insurers, the increase in the sector's income is partly because of the dynamism registered in the life and medical i
In the first seven months of this year in Panama, $864 million worth of premiums were written, an amount that exceeds by 3% the value reported in the same period in 2017.
According to figures from the Superintendency of Insurance and Reinsurance, between the first seven months of 2017 and the same period in 2018, the value of subscribed premiums went from $839 million to $864 million.
Three insurers distributed 52% of the premiums generated in January of this year, which in total amounted to $129 million.
In the first month of 2018, the three insurance companies that subscribed the largest proportion of the premiums were Assa Compañía de Seguros, Compañía Internacional de Seguros and Mapfre Panamá, with $32 million, $19 million and $16 million, respectively.
Projections are that this year growth of the Central American insurance sector will be driven by activities in the markets of Costa Rica and Guatemala.
From the report "Prospects 2018: Insurance Sector in Central America" by Fitch Ratings:
Stable Rating Perspective:The rating outlook for the Central Americaninsurancesectoris stable for 2018, given that most of the rated companies maintain a stable outlook on an individual basis.Fitch Ratings believes that the sector shows stable fundamentals, as a result of good profitability levels and high liquidity and capitalization indicators in all countries, which it expects to continue to be reflected in solid balance sheets in companies.
In 2017, net premiums collected totaled $1 billion, 22% more than the $829 million reported in 2016.
According to figures from the Superintendency of Insurance of the Dominican Republic, last year Seguros Universal was the company that registered the highest number of net premiums collected, adding up to $216 million, equivalent to 21% of the total market.
Explained in part by the increase registered in mandatory insurance, last year income from premiums in Costa Rica added up to $1.323 billion, 15% more than in 2016.
Costa Rican authorities reported that last year the largest increase was recorded in mandatory types of insurance, with interannual increases of 26% (¢28.4 billion) in Occupational Hazards and 18% (¢7.5 billion) in the Obligatory Automotive.As a result, this category gained a 1.9 pp share with respect to voluntary insurance categories.
The National Vocational Training Institute in Honduras is putting out to tender collective insurance of medical and living expenses for its personnel, and insurance for buildings, equipment and the vehicle fleet.
Annual average per capita expenditure on compulsory and voluntary insurance policies grew from $140 in 2009 to $246 in 2016, approaching the Latin American average, which stands at $250.
In addition to an increase in the supply of insurance that came after the end of the market monopoly in 2008, insurers and authorities at the Superintendency also attribute the increase in spending to regulation of the "gray market" which existed before the opening."...These were policies that were sold illegally during the monopoly and were concentrated in health insurance sector."
In January $136 million worth of insurance premiums were sold, below the $138 million sold in the same month of 2016.
The decrease compared to January last year is mainly explained by a reduction in premium segments such as maritime, aviation, technical, various risks and bonds.
Laestrella.com.pa reports that "...In the first month of this year, insurance sales associated with maritime activities decreased by 65.1% and those related to the airline industry shrank by 9.7%.Similarly there were contractions in sales in the technical category (-26.1%), insurance of various risks (-29.3%) and bonds (-4.6%)."
Voluntary insurance made up the main component of growth compared to 2015, with a consequent reduction in the share of compulsory insurance.
From a monthly report by the Superintendent of Insurance:
In 2016, revenues from insurance premiums grew by ¢90.7 billion (16%) compared to 2015, closing the year at ¢655 billion.Growth was widespread by category and in all cases, higher than the main macroeconomic indicators.
The insurance industry had a turnover of $795 million in premiums, thanks to segments such as health, damages, and vehicles, accounting for 1.2% of Guatemala's GDP last year.
According to the Guatemalan Association of the Insurance Industry (Agis), growth in areas such as health and hospitalization (13.3%), damages (6.9%) and automotive (6.8%) vehicles favored a general growth in premiums in 2015 of 6.3% compared to the amount accumulated in 2014, with total premium income being in the order of Q6.157 million.
It has been announced that three insurers with the largest share in the market have requested authorization from the regulator to make adjustments of up to 12% on premiums for health insurance policies.
The Superintendent of Insurance and Reinsurance, José Joaquín Riesen, told Prensa.com that three companies asked to be able to increase premiums for health policies, arguing that the costs of medical services have increased by at least 10% in recent years, while premiums, deductibles and coinsurance have remained in the same price ranges.
In the first quarter of the year, total premiums in the country totaled $338 million, 5% more than in the same period last year, driven by automobile insurance.
Vehicle insurance is the most in demand, reporting $63 million in premiums from January to March 2015, representing an increase of 11.8% compared to the same period last year. The second sector reporting the most growth is health, with premiums of $57.3 million, ie an increase of 6% and finally the premiums for group life reported $41 million, according to the Superintendency of Insurance and Reinsurance in Panama.
Between January and September revenue from sales of these policies increased by 74% compared to the same period in 2013, with the sale of group insurance policies to companies being the factor driving the growth.
According to data from the Superintendent of Insurance, in January-September, the sector as a whole has accumulated $116 million in premiums for such policies.