The insurance market of Czech Republic totaled CZK 179.80 billion (EUR 7.22 billion) at the end of 2021, up by 6.92% y-o-y, according to the year-end figures published by the Czech National Bank (CNB).

Claims paid by local insurers totaled CZK 101.91 billion (EUR 4.09 billion) up by 10.78 y-o-y, of which 61% related to non-life insurance, the remaining 39% being related to life insurance subclasses.

For the life segment, the GWP value (including reinsurance) remained at the 2020 level (~CZK 51.70 billion), while the value of paid claims and indemnities - including the change in balance of technical provisions, totaled CZK 39.57 billion.

Belgian financial group KBC announced that John HOLLOWS, CEO Czech Business Unit will retire after a career of nearly 26 years with KBC. At the same time, the Board of Directors has appointed Ales BLAZEK, the current CEO of KBC Bank Ireland, to the Executive Committee and successor to John HOLLOWS as CEO of the Czech Business Unit.

RENOMIA, the largest Czech insurance broker, is continuing its regional expansion by acquiring a majority stake in the Polish insurance broker Alfa Brokers. Currently RENOMIA operates in 11 CEE countries, being one of the most relevant insurance brokers in the region.

According to the year-end figures published by CAP (Czech Insurance Association), at the end of 2021, total GWP from the members of the association totaled CZK 147 billion (~EUR 5.92 billion), 4.4% more y-o-y or by CZK 6.1 billion.

The number of insurance frauds increased during 2021, according to the figures published by the Czech Insurance Association (CAP). The professional association of Czech insurers informed that during last year, it inspected a total of 11,407 suspected claim files, up by 18% y-o-y, the aggregate value of detected fraud totaling CZK 1.25 billion - or ~EUR 50 million (up by CZK 17 million or by 1% y-o-y). The average amount of detected fraud / claim file reached CZK 249 thousand (vs CZK 288 thousand in 2020).

Before the end of 2021, the international rating agency A. M. Best, reaffirmed a financial strength rating of "A" (excellent) with a stable outlook for Assicurazioni Generali and its main rated subsidiaries, including Generali Ceska pojistovna. The agency also rated the long-term credit rating at "a +" with a stable outlook.

The insurance market of Czech Republic ended the first 9 months of the year with GWP of CZK 134.7 billion (EUR 5.3 billion), up by 6.4% y-o-y, according to the end-September figures published by the Czech National Bank (CNB), confirming the Q3 market data from the members of CAP (Czech Insurance Association): GWP worth CZK 110.84 billion (~EUR 4.35 billion), 4.7% more y-o-y.

Claims paid by local insurers totaled CZK 75.5 billion (EUR 2.9 billion) up by 10.6 y-o-y, of which 62% related to non-life insurance, the remaining 38% being related to life insurance subclasses.

For the life segment, the GWP value (including reinsurance) increased by 1.2% to CZK 39.3 billion, while the value of paid claims and indemnities - including the change in balance of technical provisions, totaled CZK 28.5 billion. In the case of general insurance segment, the same indicators were as follows: GWP of CZK 95.3 billion (up by 8.7% y-o-y) and January-September 2021 payments worth CZK 47 billion, 14% more y-o-y.

ACPM - The Association of Czech Insurance Brokers, informed in a statement that on the occasion on its General Meeting held on December 7th there were elected the new statutory bodies for the next two year term 2021-2023.

According to the quarterly market figures published by CAP (Czech Insurance Association), at the end of September 2021, total GWP from the members of the association totaled CZK 110.84 billion (~EUR 4.35 billion).

Austrian insurer UNIQA announced it successfully concluded the merger of its units with the former AXA subsidiaries in Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia acquired a year ago for a total cash consideration of EUR 1.0 billion.

The first half year statistics recently published by the Czech National Bank - CNB show that at the end of June the local insurance industry totaled about CZK 89 billion (~EUR 3.5 billion), up by 4% y-o-y.

Property insurance claims paid by Czech insurers in the first half of 2021 reached CZK 5.6 billion, up by almost 20% y-o-y, following the increased severity and frequency of the weather extreme events in 2021 as compared with 2020. The total number of claims files wet up by 76.6%, to 154,186.

Italian group GENERALI announced that the Czech National Bank (CNB) approved the appointment of Lenka KEJIKOVA as new CEO of Generali pension company (GPS) in the Czech Republic and a member of its Board of Directors. She was nominated last 1st of July taking over the role from Radek MOC, who is now focusing on his function as Head of Strategy in the Austria, CEE & Russia Region.

RENOMIA, the leading Czech insurance broker, will gain a 30% business share in the Croatian market leader FORTIUS INTER PARTES (Fortius), thus significantly strengthening its current position in Croatia and at the same time entering two new countries - Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Fortius has branches.

Tornadoes are more common in Europe than is perhaps thought, with over 100 occurring on average each year across the continent, Laurent MARESCOT, Senior Director, Market and Product Expert for EMEA and CIS with RMS said in a post on LinkedIn.

Insurance companies in the Czech Republic estimate the damage caused by a devastating tornado last Thursday at CZK 3.6 billion (approx. EUR 140.5 million), announced Radio Prague International today.

Generali CEE Holding announced the merger of its Czech and Slovak units: Generali Ceska pojistovna and Generali Slovakia. Generali in Slovakia will operate as a branch of Generali Ceska pojistovna, under the name Generali Poistovna, a branch of an insurance company from another Member State.

The Q1 2021 figures recently published by the Czech National Bank - CNB show that the local insurance industry totaled about CZK 44.7 billion (~EUR 1.7 billion), up by 2.7% y-o-y, confirming the 2.4% year-on-year increase posted by Czech Insurance Association - CAP.

Generali CEE announced that from 2022, its Czech unit - Generali Ceska pojistovna will not continue to insure CEZ Group's conventional coal-fired power plants. "This decision to end the cooperation in the field of coal insurance was reached after a mutual agreement between the largest Czech insurance company and CEZ Group".

According to Q1 2021 preliminary data reported by Czech Insurance Association - CAP, the local insurance market totaled CZK 37.68 billion (~EUR 1.44 billion).