Compared to the first half year of 2010, this year the Latvian property insurance sector reports an increase of 25.4%, from EUR 20.9 million to EUR 26.2 million, showed XPRIMM INSURANCE REPORT 1H 2011.

BTA Insurance, one of the leading insurance company on non-life segment in Latvia, reports also an major increase of GWP on property segment, of 87%, to EUR 9.3 million (LVL 6.5 million).

"The significant climb suggests a positive trend, namely, people have again started to pay more attention to real estate insurance since they realize that it is the only way to protect themselves from unexpected expenses in case of accidents. The number of polices sold is also up from 31,198 in the first half of the past year to 33,200 this year", says Ivars KAIRISS, underwriter at the Real Estate department of BTA Insurance Group SE, quoted by www.bnn-news.com.

According to bnn-news.com, in Latvia there is still the myth that property insurance is expensive, people thinking that nothing can happen to their property.

"If the real estate has not been insured, owners have to rebuild it all by themselves. We saw such a case just recently in Latvia city Malpils, where a whole residential building collapsed", KAIRISS adds.

In the first half of 2011, the gross written premiums of insurance companies in Latvia increased by 29.4%, reaching EUR 175.2 million, compared with total underwritings in the correspondent period of 2010, showed XPRIMM INSURANCE REPORT 1H 2011.

More news and statistics about Latvian insurance market.