Study on motor vehicle insurance: Price war leads to red numbers - current key figures at a glance

Study on motor vehicle insurance: Price war leads to red numbers - current key figures at a glance

According to a report by www.versicherungsbote.de, a study on motor vehicle insurance shows that the industry is no longer doing well. The price war, fueled by comparison portals and rising claims expenses, is leading to falling average premiums. Companies spent more money than they earned, resulting in poor combined ratios and a negative combined ratio. The combined ratio will average 102.42 percent in 2022, which shows that insurers spend more on claims and other costs on average than they earn in premiums. This impacts not only businesses but also consumers as they face rising premiums and potentially worse service.

The development of claims expenses of an average of EUR 430.26 million per insurer in 2022 indicates a continued increase. The “Corona bonus” during the pandemic, which led to a decline in claims expenses and a brief respite for companies, has now been used up. This means that insurers now have to pay more for claims than ever before. Rising claims expenses, coupled with poor combined ratios, have left many motor vehicle insurance companies in the red.

Insurers are responding to this development by correcting prices and reducing average premiums despite record spending. This has a direct impact on consumers who may be able to benefit from lower premiums. However, falling premiums could also result in poorer service quality from insurance companies as they seek to reduce expenses.

Overall, the study shows that the car insurance industry is facing major challenges that impact both companies and consumers. The rising claims expenses, falling average premiums and the associated negative combined ratio are signs of a tense situation in the industry. It remains to be seen how insurance companies will respond to these challenges and what impact this will have on the market and consumers.