HUK is by no means the only insurance company whose motor vehicle division is currently in the red. The General Association of the German Insurance Industry had already predicted last summer that the industry would record an overall deficit in the car business due to the sharp increase in costs. But at the Coburg group, motor vehicle policies contribute over half of the total revenue.
The car business in 2023 was not entirely positive for HUK in other respects either. In total, the group concluded 1.4 million new motor vehicle contracts – but at the same time over 1.2 million contracts were lost because customers looked for other insurance. On balance, HUK only gained a good 183,000 new vehicles. This is due to the fact that every year several million car owners in Germany change insurers in search of a cheaper policy.
Allianz, number two in the motor vehicle insurance market, made up ground in 2023. At the end of 2022, the Munich DAX group had insured almost 9 million vehicles, and last year a total of 258,000 additional vehicles were added.
Since business at HUK was otherwise going well and the company was gaining new customers in all areas, boss Heitmann did not complain. According to him, premium income from all divisions rose by 6.2 percent to nine billion euros. Apart from that, the investment result shot up by 86 percent to 931 million euros thanks to increased interest rates and share prices. The bottom line is that the annual surplus was 300 million euros, more than twice as high as in 2022.
2024-04-10 10:06:45
#Cost #shock #millions #citizens #important #insurance #expensive
