The UAE insurance industry sees rising demand for comprehensive motor insurance in the wake of severe floods in recent weeks that submerged or swept away vehicles.
The average vehicle premium of nearly 60% of the 62 motor insurance companies that have provided such data declined in the first quarter of this year compared with the fourth quarter of last year.
The National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA) has granted approval to Shenzhen BYD Property Insurance to adopt statutory automobile liability insurance (SALI) terms and premium rates in eight markets in China.
Insurers in Bahrain are addressing the growing trend of EV ownership although the current number of such vehicles is less than 750 out of a population of 750,000 vehicles in the kingdom.
When insurers call for free tariff rates for traffic (compulsory motor third-party liability) insurance, foremost on their mind is that premiums must be priced fairly, according to Insurance Association of Turkiye (TSB) secretary-general Ozgur Obali.
Motor insurers posted a combined underwriting loss of TRY33bn ($1bn) in 2023 in the traffic (compulsory motor third-party liability) insurance branch, according to Insurance Association of Türkiye president Ugur Gulen. No company made an underwriting profit in the branch.
Motor insurance premiums accounted for 43.7% of non-life insurers' total premiums in 1Q2024, representing a drop of one percentage point from 44.7% in 1Q2023, according to data released by the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA).
Insurers have paid compensation amounting to over CNY206m ($28.5m) as of the end of April 2024 for losses caused by heavy floods in Guangdong last month.
Insurers should focus on the main risks as they adapt to the rapidly changing technologies and regulatory landscape around electric vehicles, according to Mr Ichiro Seino of Marsh Japan.
While preliminary estimated insured property losses arising from the floods in April in the UAE are likely to exceed US$650m, they could reach as high as $850m, with the most affected emirate being Dubai, says Guy Carpenter, a leading global risk and reinsurance specialist.