The insurance giant PZU expects the property insurance market growth to decelerate „significantly” by some 2% in 2018, PZU managing director for strategy and development Krzysztof Bachta told PAP.
„After years of clear growth in the market value in 2016 and 2017, a result of the end of the price war in automotive insurance, we expect that the growth rate of the property insurance market, for both automotive and non-automotive products, will decelerate significantly in 2018 and reach some 2% y/y,” Bachta said.
The risk of a gradual reduction of automotive policies prices will rise with each consecutive month, considering that technical results of insurers have improved significantly. Still, the „key factor” that will determine insurers’ decisions in 2018 will be the level of damages – „a faster than assumed increase of damages paid in automotive insurance would have a discouraging impact on enterprises which are planning to revisit the policy of rates reductions and might force insurers to continue to increase rates, if only to avoid losses on their activities.”
The current economic situation should support stable growth of the non-automotive segment, while the condition of the life insurance segment will largely depend on the situation on financial markets, in his view.
„Good performance of stock market indices, accompanied by maintained low interest rates, may positively influence the development of the life section of the market,” he said.
