Gross insurance premiums reported by the four life insurers and by the eight general insurers operating in Estonia in the first half of 2014 increased by 3.3% compared to the year before to EUR 225 million, according to statistics published by Financial Supervision Authority of Estonia. The value of claims paid by insurers decreased 6.4% y-o-y to EUR 114 million.

During January-March 2014, the gross written premiums of Estonian insurance companies increased by 3.3% y-o-y, reaching EUR 113.6 million, due the double digit positive performance reported by the life insurers: +14% y-o-y to EUR 23.2 million.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Estonia's Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) at 'A+'. The Outlooks are Stable. The Country Ceiling has been affirmed at 'AAA' and the Short-term foreign currency IDR at 'F1'. KEY RATING DRIVERS Estonia's ratings are underpinned by its strong public finances, economic policy framework and governance indicators.

The leading insurance company in the Baltics, ERGO and the largest Nordic financial group Nordea have agreed that the new fund manager of pension funds of ERGO Funds AS in Estonia will be Nordea Pensions Estonia AS. The transfer has been approved by the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority.

Estonia's insurance market is more intelligent - residents evaluate services and contract conditions more carefully. Latvian and Lithuanian residents do not. They do, however, trust companies that come recommended, said BTA Insurance Company CE Chairman Jānis Lucaus in his interview to BNN.

The Estonian insurer IF and its subsidiaries in Latvia and Lithuania recorded in 1Q2014 a consolidated profit of EUR 5.3 million, a figure 4 times higher compared to 1Q2013, informs LETA.

The upswing trend established in the Estonian market is the previous quarters continued also in the last three months of the previous year. Thus, the market ended 2013 with a 24% y-o-y growth in GWP, to almost EUR 428 million, driven by the non-life insurance lines which recorded impressive double digit growth rates. At the same time, claims paid by the Estonian insurers in 2013 amounted to EUR 238 million, 16% up y-o-y.

In recent years the number of occupational accidents recorded by the Estonian Labor Inspectorate grew continuously, from about 3.000 in 2009 to approximately 4.000 in 2013. Only last year SEB Elu-ja pensionikindlustus registered 33 occupational accidents, paying its clients over 12.000 euro, the insurers' representatives told the Baltic Course. In this context, Estonian employees are severely under-insured for the risks arising from their occupational profile.

In January-September 2013, the gross premiums written by the Estonian insurance companies increased by 23.7%, reaching EUR 320 million, compared with total GWP in the correspondent period of 2012. Claims paid by insurers amounted to EUR 178.4 million according to official data published by the Financial Supervision Authority of Estonia.

While generally traffic re-organisations made by City of Tallinn such as designating special bus lanes have caused motorists much grief, it seems that there is one exception - the notorious Haabersti roundabout in Õismae which is known as Estonia's most dangerous intersection, writes Postimees.

Polish insurer PZU SA has official announced expansion into Estonia in a press conference in Tallinn that was hosted by the company's board chairman Andrzej Klesyk.

According to Peter Hagen, CEO of the owner of life insurance company Compensa Life, Austrian insurance company Vienna Insurance Group (VIG), the group will enter the Estonian insurance market next year, the daily Postimees reports on Monday.

The Estonian insurance market ended the first half of 2013 with impressive growth rates in terms of GWP, but with less impressive results as far as profitability is concerned. Thus, according to data provided by the Financial Supervision Authority in Estonia, the total GWP amounted to EUR 217.55 million, 23.6% up y-o-y. At the same time, the consolidated net profit for life insurance decreased from EUR 12.73 million in 1H2012 to EUR 4.11 million in 1H2013, while the same indicator for non-life insurance fell from EUR 31.45 million in 1H2012.

In January-March 2013, the gross written premiums of insurance companies in Estonia increased by 23.75%, reaching EUR 110 million, compared with total volume of premiums in the correspondent period of 1Q2012. Claims paid by insurers amounted to EUR 61.30 million according to official data published by the Financial Supervision Authority of Estonia.

Estonia will see growth in its motor insurance market after a rise in car sales, according to a report into the sector.

Insurance company ERGO closes 18 offices and makes nearly fifty people redundant in Estonia in the course of its spring-summer sales network reform, Aripaev Online reports.

Yesterday Estonia's Financial Supervision Authority (FI) issued an injunction to Insurance Broker Services, owned by IIZI Group, for illegally influencing rates offered by insurers.

In 2012, the gross written premiums of insurance companies in Estonia marked a double-digit increase of 10.6% y-o-y. In absolute values, the insurance market has gained in GWP more than EUR 33 million: from EUR 312 million in 2011 to EUR 345 million in December 2012.

CIG Pannonia First Hungarian General Insurance (EMABIT), the 100% non-life insurance unit of Hungary's CIG Pannonia Life Insurance, will begin operations in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, CIG Pannonia Life Insurance announced on Friday.

Estonian insurance companies collected in February 5.6 million euros in life insurance premiums, 14.7 percent more than in the same month of the previous year.