Serbian insurers ended 1H2015 with GWP amounting to almost EUR 341 million, 11.23% up y-o-y. In local currency, GWP amounted to RSD 41.1 billion, 15.85% more y-o-y. Paid claims increased by about 14%, to RSD 14.75 billion (EUR 111.8 million). In relative terms, the life insurance segment showed the best dynamic, with a 21.3% GWP growth, while indemnities paid for life insurance diminished by some 2.3%. Yet the life insurance business remains little, with an overall GWP volume of EUR 72.7 million.

On the non-life side, the MTPL insurance line continued to be the real market driver, recording a GWP growth rate of over 39%. In fact, MTPL makes over a third of the market overall premium volume and addresses the needs of over 2 million customers. However, one may say that the second quarter of 2015 saw some MTPL market "cooling", as compared with the first three months of the year when the legislative changes adopted by the end of 2014, increasing the protection limits, "forced" a GWP increase wave exceeding 45% y-o-y.

Despite the tough lesson offered by the 2014 floods, the Serbian property insurance segment not only didn't saw an increased interest from the customers, but overall, recorded a 4% lower GWP amount. GWP for the "fire insurance" class went up by 7.2%, while on the "damage to property" class a 8.4% decrease of the business volume was recorded. Considering the huge Nat Cat coverage gap demonstrated by the 2014 floods, when insured losses barely amounted to only EUR 40 million out of the total EUR 1.5 billion economic losses, the Serbian property insurance segment is still far from providing a real protection and strongly needs a faster development.

Beyond figures, the end of 2014 brought a long awaited clarification of the composite insurance undertakings status, providing that the already existing composite companies may maintain their current form of organization. The new Insurance Law, which entered into effect on June, also strengthened the protection of rights and interests of the insured and provided for more flexible regulation of the sales channels.

Access www.xprimm.com and download the 1H2015 Serbian insurance market statistics.

More about the Serbian insurance market evolution in 1H2015 will be available in the forthcoming issue of XPRIMM Insurance Report 1H2015, to be released on October, 18th, on the occasion of the Baden-Baden XPRIMM Reception (Kurhaus Casino, Runder Saal, 18:30 - 20:30 hours - register here).