“2012 doesn’t look like a year with double-digit growth. It will be a difficult year, with possibly a slight increase in underwritings. The insurance market has a high potential and higher sales could be achieved by raising the degree of professional training for employees in the insurance industry,” said Tecau during an insurance seminar Tuesday.
Romania’s general and life insurance market increased 0.35% in the first quarter of the year, to 2.17 billion lei (EUR488 million), fueled by the general insurance segment which saw a 0.55% growth, to RON1.73 billion. The life insurance segment saw a 0.45% downturn in the first quarter, to RON431.9 million.
In 2011, the insurance industry declined 4.3% on the year, to RON7.95 billion.
Tecau said another major element in the development of the insurance industry is a better relationship with insurance brokers.
According to the insurance regulator CSA, premiums of RON818.82 million were brokered in the first quarter, up 7.1% compared to the first quarter of 2011. Brokered premiums accounted for 37.8% of the total market, from 35.4% in the same period a year ago.
BCR Asigurari completed its merger with Omniasig on May 1 and the new company, Omniasig, is currently market leader with RON1.2 billion in underwritten premiums last year, overtaking Astra which underwrote premiums of RON1.01 billion.
The two companies are owned by Austria’s Vienna Insurance Group, one of the largest insurance groups in Central and Eastern Europe.
In Romania, VIG also controls insurer Asirom.