The current scenario of reactivation of commercial flights and tourist activities, are an opportunity for insurers to increase their sales, since the hiring of a policy is a mandatory requirement for tourists to be allowed to travel.
Products that offer a refund in the event of having to cancel the trip due to illness, as well as coverage at the destination if the person becomes ill, both for medical expenses and for lodging in case a quarantine is needed, constitute a great opportunity in this context of the spread of covid-19.
The executive decree was modified to allow tourists arriving in Costa Rica to present a policy taken out abroad as part of the requirements for reopening international tourism.
The Costa Rican government decided to reform Executive Decree 42513-MGP-S and now foreign visitors will no longer be required to take out National Insurance Institute (INS) policies, the price of which exceeds $275 for a two-week stay.
Last year, total income from insurance premiums in Costa Rica accumulated $ 1,449 million, 8% more than reported in the previous year, a variation that doubles the 3.5% increase recorded between 2017 and 2018.
The 8% growth recorded in 2019 doubles the variation recorded in 2018, when the upturn amounted to 4%. According to the Superintendencia General de Seguros (SUGESE), the dynamism of the sector's sales represents not only a significant increase in the market, but also one that has been sustained over the last 11 years.
The Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo will contract insurance coverage of different types, for a one-year period that can be extended for two equal periods, at the option and discretion of the institution.
Costa Rican Government Purchase 2019LN-000005-0016700102:
Except for Nicaragua, which projects a decline in revenues, Fitch Ratings estimates that by year-end the region's insurance markets will have grown from 3% to 8%.
According to the report Perspectives of Insurance Industry in Central America, prepared by the rating agency Fitch Ratings, El Salvador will be the market that in 2019 will register more dynamism in the region, reporting an 8% increase over revenues reported in 2018.
Discounts in fitness centers, in dental services or in consultations with psychologists, are some of the benefits offered by insurance companies in Costa Rica to maintain their portfolio of clients and attract new ones.
The National Insurance Institute (INS), Sagicor, Pan American Life Insurance, Océanica de Seguros and Mapfre, are some of the competitors in the Costa Rican market that offer this type of privileges in their policies.
The Costa Rican Social Security Fund tenders all-risk insurance for the institutional patrimony.
Costa Rica Government Purchase 2019LA-000001-1121:
"The services requested include the acquisition of a comprehensive insurance, with coverage for all movable and immovable property of the Institution, including, but not limited to buildings, machinery, equipment, furniture, merchandise, collection of works of art, books and magazines not included in the accounting system of movable property of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund. The inventory of the buildings to be insured together with the amounts defined for contents is shown in Annex #1.
In Costa Rica, market supervisory authorities published a list of 16 companies that are not authorized to operate in the domestic market.
The objective is to warn the public about the risk of insuring with companies not authorized or supervised in the country and, at the same time, prevent unscrupulous people from using the name of these entities, without their authorization, to sell illicitly insurance in the country, explains a report by Sugese.
Costa Rica is discussing a bill that proposes to charge an additional 0.5% on all premiums and prohibits deducting from income tax the 4% collected to finance the Fire Brigade.
For the directors of the Association of Private Insurers (AAP), the approval of the National Statistical System Bill, which is being discussed in the country's Congress, would put companies in trouble and cause a contraction in growth.
Between 2017 and 2018, Costa Rica's fire and property casualty rates increased from 18% to 33% and from 29% to 37%, respectively.
The general industry accident rate, which measures the proportion of claims payment expenses to total policy income, also increased in the last two years, from 48% in 2017 to 51% in 2018.
Data from the General Insurance Superintendence (Sugese) detail that during 2018 $139 million were paid for fire policies, and insurance companies disbursed $45 million for accidents and losses, which is equivalent to 33%.
Total insurance premium revenues in Costa Rica totaled $1.261 million in 2018, 3% more than in 2017.
According to figures from the General Superintendence of Insurance (Sugese), between 2017 and 2018 the per capita spending of Costa Ricans on insurance increased slightly by 1.8%, from $248 to $252.
In Costa Rica, the average premium for Compulsory Automobile Insurance for 2019 was approved to increase by 12.5% with respect to current rates.
After requests made by the National Insurance Institute (INS) to the General Superintendence of Insurance (Sugese), it was reported that the increase was approved, so private vehicles will pay ¢22.192 ($35) for the insurance premium next year.
In the first five months of the year, total income from insurance premiums in Costa Rica added up to $682 million, registering an increase of 6% compared to the same period in 2017.
Between January and May of this year, growth of mandatory insurance was mainly due to the 14% increase registered in occupational risk premiums, according to a report by the General Superintendence of Insurance.
Explained by the behavior of the Costa Rican market, in 2017 Central American insurers received $5.02 billion in premiums, 7% more than in 2016.
According to a report drawn up by Revista Desempeño Asegurador, in 2017 "... insurance sales in the region expressed an absolute increase of US $334.7 million, an amount that represented a rise of 7.1% compared to sales in 2016."
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.