In Costa Rica, the Commission to Promote Competition stated that they do not agree with any type of exclusivity in the emergency medical insurance market for inbound tourism.
The Commission recommends not to allow initiatives that establish as a mandatory requirement for travelers, a medical insurance for inbound tourism, as it could detract from the country's competitiveness and increase the cost of traveling to Costa Rica.
Since the borders were reopened and the country began to receive visitors, tourists have purchased more international policies, a situation that could be explained by the lower prices compared to insurance offered locally.
Data from the Costa Rican Ministry of Health show that between August 1, 2020 and February 11, 2021, 209,779 health insurance policies have been filed. Of the total number of policies, 54% are international, 34% from Sagicor and 12% from the National Insurance Institute (INS).
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%.
CentralAmericaData's interactive platform, Consumer Insights, monitors in real time changes in consumer habits in all markets in the region and in other Latin American countries, with fundamental information to understand their behavior, new trends and anticipate eventual changes in their purchase patterns.
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.
Because Costa Rica requires foreign visitors to take out a local policy, which costs more than $275 for a two-week stay, tour operators are asking that insurance taken out abroad be accepted as an incentive for tourist arrivals.
After more than four months of the country's borders being closed to tourists, commercial flights resumed on Aug. 3 with the arrival of an Iberia plane carrying more than 200 passengers from Spain.
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%.
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.
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 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.
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