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.
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%.
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.
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, 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.
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.
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."
For the first time since the opening of the insurance market, the National Insurance Institute has lost its dominance in the health insurance segment, which is now led by Pan American Life Insurance.
The insurance company Pan American Life Insurance took 40% of the revenues generated by sales of medical insurance policies at the end of June this year.According to data from the Insurance Superintendency, Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS)"... accounted for 38% of the business (¢16,935 million), followed by Aseguradora del Istmo (Adisa) with 6%."
Fitch projects a growth close to 15% in premiums this year, in a context of economic stability and consolidation of strategies by insurers.
From a report by Fitch Ratings:
Strong growth in premiums:the Costa Rican insurance industry grew by 16% in terms of premiums written up to the close of 2016, the result of a reclassification in the financial figures of the state - owned company and the largestmarket participant, Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS), which was influential in the growth of -9% in 2015. Excluding this reclassification, the sector's growth reached 9% at the end of 2016, which is still a favorable level, according to Fitch Ratings.Meanwhile, private equity insurers recorded premium growth of 35%, thanks to innovation in products and marketing channels.
Pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, medical tourism companies, laboratories, pharmacies and research centers are part of the new Costa Rican health chamber.
The group of health sector companies announced that they"...
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