September 2, 2024 – The claims expenses of the 50 largest market participants in liability insurance fell by five percent in 2022. However, 21 of them recorded increases of up to over 90 percent (Huk24). Baloise saw the biggest decline at 77 percent. The loss ratios were between 11.9 (Baloise) and 72 percent (BGV-Versicherung). This is shown by the “Industry Monitor 2017-2022: Liability Insurance” by VERS Leipzig.
The claims expenses (according to Form 2 RechVersV) of the 50 liability insurers with the highest turnover fell by a good five percent to 3.87 billion euros in 2022. This is according to the “Industry Monitor 2017-2022: Liability Insurance” of the VERS Leipzig GmbH It presents numerous key figures for the 50 largest market participants with around 99 percent market share.
21 actors with increased effort
Nevertheless, claims expenditure rose for almost two dozen market participants. The curve showed the strongest increase, with over 90 percent (to 18.5 million euros) for Huk24 AG.
At the DEVK German Railway Insurance Property and Casualty Insurance Association aG the amount grew by more than three quarters to 43 million euros. Fire Insurance Company Berlin Brandenburg Insurance AG The increase amounted to eleven million euros, an increase of more than two thirds.
Claims expenses were over 60 percent higher than WWK General Insurance AG to more than half the expenditure on WGV Insurance AG.
Baloise with the biggest decline
At the Baloise Property Insurance AG Germany On the other hand, expenses fell the most (minus more than three quarters to less than 12.4 million euros). Expenses were also significantly lower than a year ago, at more than a third each, for the Mecklenburg Insurance Company aG (10.7 million euros) and the Mannheim Insurance AG (10.4 million euros).
Reduction rates of just over and under a quarter were recorded for the Regional Fire Insurance Company Hannover (VGH; 41.3 million euros) and for the Itzehoer Insurance/Fire Guild of 1691 VVaG. (6.7 million euros).
Large differences in the effort per contract
The claims expenses per insurance contract were between 12.39 euros (Cosmos Insurance AG) and 245.86 euros (Ergo Insurance AG). It was just under 220 euros for the R+V General Insurance AGa good 192 euros at the Dialog Insurance AG.
While the curve for the latter rose by almost a third, Ergo and R+V each improved by almost a fifth.
Providers with comparatively low values include WGV and Hansemerkur General Insurance AG with just under 20 euros each, including the Baloise (22.84 euros) and the Huk-Coburg-General Insurance AG (24,14 Euro).
There was a slight increase at Cosmos and a significant increase at WGV. In contrast, the amounts at Huk-Coburg-Allgemeine fell sharply and at Baloise they fell massively.
The providers with the highest loss ratios
If you put the claims expenditure in relation to turnover (gross premiums earned), six of the insurers listed spent more than 60 percent of their turnover on this item alone. The highest rate is reported for BGV at 72 percent.
The values also reached comparatively high levels in the VHV General Insurance AGdie Inter General Insurance AGthe DEVK VVaG, the Huk-Coburg Liability Support Fund for Motor Vehicle Officers in Germany aG and the BA the Bavarian General Insurance AG.
Of the aforementioned providers, only BGV was able to improve. VHV, Inter and DEVK VVaG recorded slight deteriorations of between one and a good five percentage points.
At Huk-Coburg VVaG, the ratio deteriorated by over ten percentage points, and at DEVK VVaG by over 28 percentage points. At the latter provider, the loss provision increased by almost a quarter to 45.5 million euros.
Baloise with the lowest loss ratio
On the other hand, Baloise performed best in liability insurance with a loss ratio of 11.9 percent. Annual Report 2022 (PDF, 887 KB) on the background: “Due to reserve releases, the gross loss ratio is at a historically low level of 11.9 percent (previous year: 55.9 percent).”
Six years earlier, the loss ratio was still over 170 percent, which was due to high reserve strengthening in the hospital liability insurance segment (December 20, 2018).
Between 25 and under 30 percent were the Mecklenburgische, the Cosmos, the Mannheimer, the Provinzial Nord Brandkasse AG and the Württembergische Insurance AG.
Only at Cosmos did the quota increase, but only minimally. For the other four providers, the curve pointed downwards – by at least three percentage points (Provinzial Nord) and a maximum of 17 percentage points (Mecklenburgische and Mannheimer).
Possibility of purchase
The “Industry Monitor 2017-2022: Liability Insurance” contains numerous other key figures on the insurance branch. The approximately 80-page study can be ordered as a PDF version for EUR 803.25 gross including VAT from Maik Entrich by email or by phone on 0341 24659262.
As is the case with the official statistics of the GDV, the key figures of the industry monitor do not show how the premium income of the individual companies is distributed in terms of private and commercial customer business.
In addition, the industry monitor focuses on providers with a focus on private customer business. Therefore, data for industrial insurers such as Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE (AGCS) or HDI Global SE not included in the study.
