Allianz-Tiriac posts 37% growth in five months

Insurance company Allianz-Tiriac posted underwritten gross premiums worth 128 million euros in the first five months, an increase of 37% from the same period in 2005, with the trend driven by the comprehensive car insurance policy segment and by the growth on the life insurance segment.
Allianz-Tiriac intends to break down the comprehensive policy client portfolio into segments depending on the client profile and history with the company.
As for the general insurance segment, Allianz-Tiriac underwrote gross premiums worth 115 million euros in the first five months of the year, an increase of 31% from the same time in 2005. The growth of the life insurance business was 126%, to 13 million euros, company representatives stated yesterday.
Besides the doubling of the life insurance business, the other segments that helped achieve 37% growth in the first five months were car policies, home insurance and the contract to insure Tarom's fleet, the company said. The increase in sales of non-mandatory auto policies (comprehensive car insurance policies) by 29% in the first five months of the year is not the news the management of Allianz-Tiriac would have wished for.
Last year Allianz-Tiriac had a 36% share of the comprehensive policy market, with this type of insurance accounting for 60% of its portfolio. "This share does not make us that enthusiastic, because we do not have a balanced portfolio. Still, this is the trend of the market," stated Cristian Constantinescu, Allianz-Tiriac Asigurari's chief executive.
"The situation on the auto insurance market is bleak and unacceptable for any insurer," he says. The rate of claims settled for Allianz-Tiriac's individual clients exceeded 103% last year, which means the claims the company settled were 3% higher than the premiums it collected. In other words, the company lost money on the segment of comprehensive car insurance sold to individual customers.