Due to confinement, the economic crisis and vehicle restriction measures, two out of ten customers in Guatemala cancelled their car insurance.
The spread of covid-19 has generated a health and economic crisis in the country, a situation that caused falls in the income of insurance companies, however, the sector's union considers that it is a temporary effect and that in the coming months sales could recover.
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%.
In the first ten months of 2019, premiums of $1,265 million were subscribed in the country, 2% more than reported in the same period of the previous year, a rise that is less than the 5% year-on-year variation reported up to October 2018.
According to the last report of the General Comptroller of the Republic, between the first ten months of 2018 and the same period of 2019, fire and multi-risk insurance premiums recorded a 12% increase.
Because of the financial problems it faces, the Superintendence of Insurance and Reinsurance of Panama ordered the forced liquidation of La Floresta de Seguros y Vida.
"The forced liquidation of the insurance company La Floresta de Seguros y Vida, S.A.
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.
Customers who are guided by immediacy and technology, who are also more focused on travel than buying health or life insurance, force insurers to reinvent their processes to continue increasing their sales.
Because the population group known as the "millennials," which is made up of customers who like to keep up with the buying process and are not willing to wait, companies must transform to keep up with their sales pace.
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.
Because of vehicle and health insurance performance, premiums paid in Panama last year totaled $1.562 million, 6% more than in 2017.
Preliminary figures from the Superintendence of Insurance and Reinsurance detail that last year income from vehicle insurance totaled $321 million and increased 9% with respect to 2017.
In Panama, industry authorities have ordered insurers to refrain from applying increases to individual premiums that are not contemplated or authorized in health policies.
According to the order given by the Superintendency of Insurance and Reinsurance, insurers that made increases to policies that were unforeseen and not authorized by the regulator, in the last twelve months, will have to refund the excess to customers.
Ten years after the elimination of the insurance monopoly in Costa Rica, private insurers have managed to "steal" from the state company about 12% of the market.
Mapfre Seguros, Sagicor, Assa Compañía de Seguros and Best Meridian Insurance are some of the 12 private companies that have been competing in the Costa Rican insurance market since 2008, when the law came into force opening up the business which for more than 80 years was in the hands of a single company, Instituto Nacional de Seguros.
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.
According to the union of insurers in El Salvador, between January and March net premiums totalled $149 million, 2% less than the $152 million reported in the same period in 2017.
After registering a modest 2% growth between 2016 and 2017, representatives of the Salvadoran Insurance Association (ASES) reported that during the first quarter of the year a 2% drop in contracted premiums was reported, compared to the months from January to March 2017.
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