The insurance sector grew by 55.5% in real terms in two months.
Turkish Insurance Association (TSB) published the sector’s premium production results at the end of February 2023.
According to the data covered in the Insurance Günemi program published on Bloomberg HT, health insurance, compulsory traffic insurance, general damages, motor own damage and fire natural disasters branches became the leading branches with serious premium production and real growth rates in the first two months.
According to the data compiled by TSB from its member companies, the insurance sector’s premium production in the first two months of the year exceeded 66 billion TL with a growth of 141.4 percent compared to the first month of the previous year. After adjusting for inflation, the real growth of the sector at the end of two months was 55.5 percent.
According to the TSB data, 59 billion TL of the said production came from non-life, while the growth of the said side was 146 percent compared to the same month of the previous year, while the real growth was 58.7 percent after adjusting for inflation.
While there was 7.1 billion TL premium production in the two months of the year on the life side, the growth here was 109 percent compared to the two months of the previous year, and 34.7% growth was observed in real terms.
Expertise course from SEDDK
The Insurance and Private Pension Regulation and Supervision Agency (SEDDK) opened applications for the 2023 loss adjusting course. Applications to the courses, which are limited to a total of 300 people, will be made through the website of the Insurance Training Center (www.segem.org.tr) until April 14, 2023.
Intense effort to heal wounds
Uğur Gülen, General Manager of Aksigorta, said, “The Turkish insurance industry works hard to heal the wounds of earthquakes and to help rebuild lives. But in addition to these efforts, we should talk and take action both among ourselves as the sector and with the public administration on what we can do to prevent such disasters from happening. The insurance industry is doing its part to overcome this disaster and will continue to do so.”
Baturalp Pamukçu, General Manager of Türk Nippon Insurance, stated that the insurance sector started to recover the losses caused by the earthquake disaster very quickly, and said, “The sector quickly resolves the insurance claims of our citizens living in the region, in addition to the aids in kind and in cash.”
Number of PPS contracts under the age of 18 is 734 thousand
According to the data of the Pension Monitoring Center (EGM) on March 23, 2023, the total fund size of the Voluntary Private Pension System (BES) was 419.7 billion liras, where the number of participants was 8 million 34 thousand. In the Automatic Enrollment System (OKS), where the number of participants was 6 million 778 thousand, the fund size was recorded as 35.2 billion liras. Thus, the total number of participants in the system, including OKS, exceeded 14 million 812 thousand, while the total fund size, including OKS and State Contribution, reached 455 billion TL. On the other hand, according to the EGM data dated March 17, 2023, the age of 18 under While the number of contracts in PPS reached 734 thousand people, the number of participants exceeded 676 thousand people. The total fund size exceeded 4 billion TL, including the state contribution.
HDI Fibaemeklilik General Manager Erol Öztürkoğlu stated that the participants did not lose their rights when the BES contributions were not paid due to the earthquake, and said, “Our citizens and participants in the earthquake region should not worry. When they reach their hands, they can make their payments collectively,” he said.
Information from EGM
Pension Monitoring Center (EGM) provided information on what the legal heirs of the Individual Pension System (BES) participants should do in case of death.
EGM underlined that in the event of the death of BES participants, their beneficiaries, if specified in the contract, and their legal heirs, if not specified, may request from the pension company the payment of the savings in the individual pension account, including the full amount of the State Contribution.
Biggest global protection gap is in pensions
A new report by the Global Federation of Insurance Associations (GFIA) has flagged some of the most pressing insurance protection gaps the world currently faces and explores ways to help close them. Ranking among the largest annual global protection gaps identified by the GFIA is $1 trillion for pensions, $900 billion for cyber, $800 billion for health, and $100 billion for natural disasters. “Insurers around the world play a vital role in protecting people and businesses from the risks they face and helping to recover when those risks occur,” said GFIA President Susan Neely.
A report by Moody’sInvestorsService suggested that while the increase in interest rates over the past year has been positive for life insurers in Europe, the rapid pace of the increase means that the majority of insurers are currently sitting on significant unrealized losses on their fixed accounts.
Global reinsurance company Swiss Re estimated total insured losses from both natural and man-made disasters at $132 billion last year, and economic losses are thought to be more than double that figure, $284 billion.
Lloyd’s CEO John Neal has suggested that the rise in global insurance spending over the next decade will be driven by a greater perception of risks such as bank failures and climate change.
