SEB banka experts predict economic growth in Latvia at 3.8% in 2013 and 5% in 2014. There is potential for faster growth, but it will largely depend on whether, and how convincingly, global economy forecasts hold up, including those for eurozone economic recovery during the second half of the year, says the bank's latest macroeconomic review, cites it LETA/Nozare.lv.

Shareholders of the insurance brokerage companies BALTO LINK and A DZIVIBA have agreed to merge their companies in Latvia to create the 3rd largest insurance brokerage company in the Baltic States, with over EUR 21 million in annual written insurance premiums and EUR 3 million in annual commission revenue in total, informs BALTO LINK.

The ERGO Insurance Group is expanding its international bancassurance business. In future, it will be working closely with Nordea, one of the leading financial services providers in Northern Europe, to sell life insurance products in the Baltic States.

The Freedom monument is the only Latvian statue that is insured. During this year's festivities, the monument's insurance will be renewed for the tenth time in the last ten years, BTA Insurance Company notes.

During the first nine months of 2012, the volume of losses for OCTA increased to 1.2 million LVL. Insurers are experiencing losses for nine consecutive months. With that, Latvian car owners will most likely need to expect a possible price increase on OCTA insurance, BALTA (RSA Grupa) reports.

The first autumn storm has caused 5,000 lats (7,000 euros) worth of damage in Latvia. Lithuania was not so lucky - 436 thousand lats worth of damage. In Estonia, however, insurance companies have yet to receive any requests regarding insurance claims after the storm.

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.

Keeping up with the development of modern technologies and consumer habits, BTA Insurance Company SE has developed a mobile application for iPhone and Android smart phones. BTA is the only insurance company in Latvia that has developed its own application to support its customers.

The inland business of the Latvian insurers dropped by 1.11% y-o-y, to LVL 64.94 million (EUR 92.4 million), according to data published by The Financial and Capital Market Commission of Latvia (FKTK). Yet, if considering also the business written by Latvian insurers abroad, the market GWP amounted LVL 82.9 million, 2.9% y-o-y up.

BTA Insurance Company SE has developed insurance for agricultural sowings of cultivated plants upon request of the farmers and is offering this service to its clients starting this week. BTA offers to insure sowings against flood, hail, storm and destruction by frost during the wintering period. The state aid available upon insuring the crops is 50 % of the insurance indemnity.

While the fuel prices increase, more economy class and diesel cars are stolen, show the Latvian non-life insurance market's leader, BTA, statistics. Since 2008, the number of car thefts decreased every year but in 1Q2012 approx. 190 cars were stolen, which is the same as in 1Q2011. According BTA, the most stolen cars in 2012 are Volkswagens (VW), especially Golf, Passat, diesel Touran and Smart models, data confirmed by the Ministry of the Interior. In turn, Audi and BMW rank second. "Today, thieves are more interested in economy class cars that are approximately ten years old, with a value of about EUR 7,000", pointed out Ilze VEJINA, Deputy Director of the BTA Insurance Claim Department.

"For Latvia's Development" founder and former PM and "New Era" leader Einars Repse would like to reform Latvia's health care system, introducing market economy principles and mandatory health insurance.

Compensa T.U. SA has taken decision to further expand its activities in Baltic States by starting non life insurance operations in Latvia in the fourth quarter of year 2012.

"In spite of turbulence experienced on the capital markets, ERGO Insurance Group in the Baltic States wrote over EUR 37.5 million (LVL 26.35 million) in premiums in the first quarter of the year, which resulted in a growth of 13.3%, and earned EUR 165.742 profit, according to an IFRS-based assessment, Nozare.lv was informed by ERGO representative Inese Kronberga.

Latvian insurance market recorded an impressive double digit growth rate in 2011, reminding the good pre-crisis years. GWP amounted EUR 323 million, 19.3% y-o-y up. Yet, on the life insurance side the trend was strongly negative, with a 24% decrease in GWP, to EUR 35.4 million. On the non-life insurance segment, GWP volume amounted EUR 287.6 million, 28.4% more than in 2010.

Usually there aren't more car or housing related accidents on day 13 than on other days of a month, according to data of Swedbank P&C Insurance Latvia branch.

Although the number of non-insured vehicles is not big in Latvia (around 2%), there are some drivers - recidivists who not only regularly fail to purchase Mandatory Civil Liability Insurance for Owners of Road Transport (OCTA), and are being repeatedly fined for driving without it, but sometimes appear to be initiators of traffic accidents for even ten times in a year.

Citadele Life, which is a company in the Citadele Group, has expanded its market share in the area of savings insurance policies nearly five times over, from 2.0% in 2010 to 9.7% in 2011. This has happened irrespective of the fact that the total number of signed premiums in the Latvian insurance market in 2011 declined by 3.6%.

In view of 2011 Latvian economic growth, it is expected that also the local insurance market will grow in 2012. It is forecast to have barely grown last year, according to the insurance company Balta.

In 3Q2011, insurance companies in Latvia wrote premiums totaling EUR 251.6 million (LVL 176.8 million), according to The Financial and Capital Market Commission (FKTK). If comparing with the first nine months of 2010, the value is almost 28% bigger than in the same period of 2010.