According to the study, 55% of all the homes in the country are not insured through a mandatory or voluntary policy, and life insurance makes up 21% of the total underwritten premiums on the market. “This means Romania is one of the European countries with low insurance coverage and significant potential for growth in future years,” said Golovatic.
One of the conditions for Romania’s accession to the European Union was for 90% of the national car park to be insured through RCA policies. Romania has been a EU member since January 1, 2007.
According to the data of insurance market regulator CSA, at the end of 2010, the number of active RCA policies was 3.72 million, including 2.8 million policies signed by individuals (75.29% of the total). An estimated 87% of Romania’s active car park was insured through RCA policies, said the regulator yearly report.
The GfK IMDS study reveals 46% of Romanians own a general insurance policy (for their home or car), up 14% from 2010, owing to the introduction of mandatory home insurance and a rising number of car owners. Only 19% of the population is covered by personal insurance (life, accident and health) and only 12% is covered by life insurance.
In this context, UNIQA Asigurari has launched a national campaign to raise awareness about the need for insurance. In its first stage, the project will be implemented in four counties – Ilfov, Cluj, Bacau and Dolj – and will later be extended into the entire country.
UNIQA Asigurari (formerly Unita) is one of the top ten players on the local insurance market. In the first nine months of the year, the company underwrote premiums worth 293.47 million lei (EUR67.3 million), down 5.7% on the year, and it paid damages worth a total RON268.26 million, down 10.7% on the year.
Last year, underwritten premiums dropped 12.9%, to RON432.4 million, and the insurer switched to loss, with RON56.1 million in the red, from a net profit of RON2.48 million in 2009.
The company has a share capital of RON320.26 million, entirely owned by the Austrian group UNIQA, which also owns Uniqa Asigurari de Viata (formerly Agras). (EUR1=RON4.3587)