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Last year, the insurance industry attended claims for fires, the winter wave, traffic accidents, health problems, occupational risks, pension allowances, among others, for $22.8 billion pesos, 14% more compared to the previous year, according to the most recent report from the Federation of Colombian Insurers (Fasecolda).
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“This result gives us indications that after the pandemic, more people received the benefits of insurance and went to purchase this type of product to protect their lives, health, and assets. The industry was not immune to the world economic crisis, the war in Ukraine, the change of government and the general problems of the economy such as extremely high inflation, among others”, said David Colmenares, president of the Fasecolda Board of Directors.
However, he added that the sector maintained its solidity, guaranteeing more and more the obligations it assumes to protect Colombians and their families.
(See: Soat Discount: ABC to find out if it applies to you and what it covers).
According to the report, in the general insurance branches, the highest payments for claims were made for events such as the balance of compensation corresponding to Hidroituango, vehicle repair costs and the thousands of victims of traffic accidents, among others, which totaled $11.5 trillion, 42% more than in 2021.
To its turn, The automobile business closed with 2.4 million insured vehicles, 367,000 more than the previous year, and claims for more than 225,000 vehicles were paid for $3.22 trillion, a figure 26% higher than the claims paid in 2021. For their part, issued premiums went from $3.86 trillion in 2021 to $5.03 trillion in 2022.
Soat.
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Likewise, the disruption of supply chains and the depreciation of the currency had an impact on notable increases in the prices of imported spare parts. Therefore, repair costs rose and an adjustment in the price of premiums became necessary.
The Soat had in 2022, a critical year, since the deterioration in the results of this branch is unprecedented, since it went from having a negative result of $192,000 million in 2021, to a loss of $402,800 million at the end of 2022.
(See: Little coverage against catastrophes?: 40% of assets do not have insurance).
During the last year, around 9.4 million mandatory traffic accident policies were issued, this is 4% more than the previous year. The union indicated that although premiums grew close to 12% in the last year, the value of claims paid increased by more than 27%, reaching $2.4 trillion.
“This insurance continues in crisis in a context in which road accidents exceeded historical levels in the country: more than 8,000 deaths and close to 1 million injuries; and evasion and fraud of this insurance persist”, indicated the union.
Given this, in December the Government adopted measures aimed at fulfilling this obligation and it is expected that other actions will be taken soon to mitigate corruption in collections and reduce the number of victims of traffic accidents. Last January, 880,000 policies were issued which, compared to the 692,000 in 2021, reflects a growth of close to 27%.
Meanwhile, two new insurance companies entered the market last year, these being Seguros Colsanitas and Asulado, which began to compete in labor risks, life annuities, and disability and survival insurance.
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