Growth in policies for health and boats and aircrafts accounted for most of the 19% growth recorded in the first quarter of the year.
Data from the Superintendency of Insurance indicates that during the third month of the year the agricultural and livestock sector registered an increase of 64% compared to March 2017, followed by health insurance, whose premiums increased by 27%.
In Panama during the first three months of the year $367 million was written in premiums, which is 2% more than the $360 million reported in the same period in 2017.
During the first quarter of 2018, the three insurance companies that wrote the largest proportion of these premiums were Assa Compañía de Seguros, Compañía Internacional de Seguros and Mapfre Panamá, with $70 million, $62 million and $56 million, respectively.
The Superintendence of Competition has authorized the purchase of Davivienda Vida Seguros by the Honduran company Inversiones Atlántida.
A statement issued by the Superintendence of Competition (SC) indicates that the purchase of the insurer Davivienda Vida Seguros, S.A., Seguros de Personas (Davivienda Vida), was made through the Salvadoran subsidiary of Grupo Atlántida,Inversiones Financieras Atlántida, S.A.
The Judicial Branch of Guatemala is putting out to tender a medical expenses insurance policy for 156 magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice and Courts of Appeals.
In Costa Rica, at least five medical centers are preparing to expand their current sites and construct new buildings in different areas of the Greater Metropolitan Area.
A greater supply of insurance for medical expenses, and growth in population density in areas far from the center of the capital are some of the factors that explain the greater demand for private medical services in the country.Added to this is the greater culture of preventative health care that exists in the country, and the poor attention that is provided at the public level.
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.
Representatives from the sector stated that in 2017 premiums totalled $627 million, which meant an increase of just 1% with respect to the figures reported in 2016.
According to the Salvadoran Association of Insurance Companies (Ases) last year's performance was associated with lower demand in some sectors, greater competition and a volume of risks that has not increased substantially.
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."
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.
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.
In 2017 in Panama, premiums totaled $1.471 billion, 5% more than in 2016, but the loss ratio in fires and floods increased almost four times.
According to a report by the Superintendency of Insurance and Reinsurance of Panama (SSRP), in 2017 market growth was accompanied by an increase in claims, as insurance companies paid out $119 million for the fire and flood coverage policies, a figure that exceeds the $26 million disbursed in 2016 by 365%.
The Guatemalan insurance association reports that at the end of the year premiums totaled $926 million, 8% more than in 2016.
According to a report presented by the Guatemalan Association of Insurance Institutions, the growth of 7.7% was below the 9% that had been foreseen for 2017.It should be noted that medical insurance exceeded expectations, growing above 10%.
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