Latvian insurance market ended the first half of 2012 with a modest y-o-y increase of 1.25% in terms of gross written premiums, which amounted to EUR 177.42 million. Yet, the life insurance sector maintained a negative trend, the overall business on life insurance lines shrinking by almost 17%, to EUR 12.97 million. The aggregated positive trend of the market was driven by the 3% growth recorded on the non-life segment, which totaled GWP of EUR 164.45 million.

On the claims side, developments were also of the opposite sign: while indemnities paid for life insurance grew by almost 20% - with a peak of over 255% for the unit-linked policies -, the non-life segment claims paid diminished by about 4%. All in all, Latvian insurers paid EUR 90 million in claims, about 2.3% less than one year before.

Property insurance recorded the best performance in terms of growth, GWP reaching EUR 27.88 million, 6.4% up y-o-y. On the "fire and allied perils" class, the increase in GWP was even higher, of 7.4% y-o-y. According to a SWEDBANK P&C Insurance research published by Baltic News Network, "the average amount of money for a full insurance coverage is LVL 55,000 for apartments and LVL 125,000 for private houses. Apartment owners pay an average of LVL 5 per month for insurance. Private house owners pay LVL 12 per month. 65% of residents that voluntarily choose to insure their real estate property also insure its belongings. Civic responsibility insurance has become especially popular among Latvian residents (46% of clients chose it)".

Motor insurance showed an overall 2.16% growth in GWP, to EUR 91.94 million. The biggest change was recorded on the "transport ownership liability" class, with a 410% growth rate, while on the MTPL line, premiums declined by over 62%.

Non-life insurance companies reported an aggregated profit of EUR 2.57 million, while life insurers' financial result raised at EUR 0.774 million.

Access www.xprimm.com and download the 1H2012 Latvian insurance market statistics.

Market portfolio:

• Gross written premiums
• Paid claims
• Growth rates