Astra Asigurări, a company controlled by businessman DanAdamescu, climbed to the top position of the ranking of Romanianinsurance companies after underwriting 1.11 billion lei (264million euros) in gross premiums last year, topplingAllianz-}iriac, which had filled the no.1 position for sevenyears.
The Germans at Allianz, however, feature in the statistics of theUNSAR (insurers' professional association) with the biggest volumeof premiums collected, almost 1.13 billion lei, 91 million lei morethan the premiums collected by Astra.
Premiums collected best reflect the financial year in the reportingperiod, being a similar indicator to the turnover of a company inany other field, while premiums underwritten provide a good idea ofa company's future business. Underwritten premiums are commitmentsundertaken by companies through contracts sealed at a certain time,which means they are set to collect premiums in the future, basedon these contracts.
"Premiums collected usually best reflect an insurer's business.Normally, there should not be a big difference between underwrittenand collected premiums, but it depends on each company's accountingsystem," says Cristian Fugaciu, general manager of Marsh insurancebroker.
Allianz did not effectively collect more money from clients, withthe amount in excess of the underwritten premiums being the resultof an accounting calculation. The money that exceeds the value ofthe gross underwritten premiums is the amount that insurers removefrom the premium reserves as they collect money frompreviously-issued policies. Premium reserves are equivalent tocommitments undertaken by an insurance company, but withoutcollecting money from the insured.
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