8/29/2024 – Allianz Direct recorded the largest drop in premiums in motor liability insurance over a six-year period, at over 51 percent. Premium income at Cosmos, Axa and HDI each shrank by a good eighth. According to the “Industry Monitor 2017-2022: Motor Vehicle Insurance” by VERS Leipzig, premium income fell for twelve other players in the top 50.
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Premium income in motor vehicle liability insurance has risen sharply in recent years. Figures from the General Association of the German Insurance Industry According to the German Insurance Association (GDV), gross premiums written grew by more than a third from 2011 to 2022. Most recently, revenues totaled almost 17 billion euros.
Most recently, the increase was only half a percent (according to the GDV, adjusted due to the change in the population), which was significantly weaker than in previous years. In 2012 and 2013, the growth rates were still over five percent. From 2017 to 2022, the industry increased its premium volume by around six percent.
Large differences in premium development in motor liability insurance
According to the “Industry Monitor 2017-2022: Motor Vehicle Insurance”, the individual companies differ significantly. The study is carried out annually by the VERS Leipzig GmbH It contains overviews of numerous key figures for the 50 largest market players in motor insurance, which account for around 87 percent of the market share.
According to the study, only 33 of the 50 largest players were able to increase their sales over a six-year period. Seven of them grew at a below-average rate, while nine others grew by more than a quarter. The largest increase was in the Rhion Insurance AG which increased sales more than fifteenfold (VersicherungsJournal 15.8.2024).
16 players in the red
For 16 providers, premium income fell against the industry trend. No value for the period is available for the insurance company, which was founded just a few years ago. Dialog Insurance AG (25.10.2018, 23.10.2018).
The company’s revenues fell by 3.6 percent to less than 81 million euros between 2019 and 2022. After two increases of up to over six percent, the company recently suffered a sharp decline of almost ten percent.
Allianz Direct with the biggest decline
By far the biggest losses were in the Allianz Direct Insurance AG whose turnover more than halved to 85 million euros. Reduction rates in the low double-digit percentage range had on the one hand Cosmos Insurance AG (to less than 158 million euros) and the Axa Insurance AG (to just under 729 million euros).
The same applies to the HDI Insurance AG (to 330 million euros), the DA German General Insurance AG (DA Direkt) (to less than 157 million euros), the Axa Easy Insurance AG (to 45 million euros) and the Regional Fire Insurance Company Hannover (VGH) (to less than 224 million euros).
Background to the loss at Allianz Direct
At Allianz Direct (formerly Allsecur), the initially clear growth trend was reversed in 2019. At that time, the company had stopped sales via comparison portals, which caused revenues to shrink by about a seventh.
In 2020, it even went downhill by more than a third. According to the company, it had experienced “a year of transformation in a market environment strongly influenced by the Covid 19 pandemic” (VersicherungsJournal 31.3.2022). In the penultimate year of the observation period, the provider managed to halve the loss to around a sixth.
“The drivers for this were the continued decline in inventory and the abandonment of the use of comparison portals in the sales channel mix,” says the background in the Annual Report 2021 (PDF, 689 KB). In this regard, the company has since made a strategic shift (July 25, 2022).
Recently, Allianz Direct was able to limit the decline to around six percent. This is likely to be due in particular to the recently established branch in Spain. According to Annual Report 2022 (PDF, 644 KB) from 3.8 to 16.6 million euros, which “largely compensated” for the decline in Germany, the report says.
HDI returns to growth track
HDI was able to increase sales in the first and last year of the period under review. According to the company, the first year was mainly due to “the successful expansion of direct sales and the higher average premium”.
In 2019, a noticeably lower amount of new business was generated due to a “profitability-oriented underwriting policy”, which led to premium losses. According to the company, the double-digit loss in 2020 was “driven by pandemic-related effects, the expiration of a cooperation model and portfolio losses from the 2019/2020 year-end business”.
According to the study, the drivers of the reduction of almost seven percent in the penultimate year of the observation period were Annual Report 2021 (PDF, 1.2 MB) “essentially portfolio losses from the 2020/2021 year-end business and the waiver of premium adjustments as a result of the positive pandemic-related claims development”.
Most recently, the Hanoverians returned to the growth track and increased by a whopping 7.5 percent. Annual Report 2022 (PDF 1.4 MB) the background is given as “inventory growth from the 2021/2022 year-end business” as well as “inventory growth during the year”; the latter “in particular from direct and broker sales in accordance with the strategic orientation”.
Further study details and purchase options
Cosmos also lost four times after initial growth. The reduction rates were between just under four and a good five percent, without major fluctuations.
The majority of industry heavyweights with more than 500 million euros in premium volume performed better than the market (29.8.2024).
The “Industry Monitor 2017-2022: Motor Vehicle Insurance” contains numerous other key figures for the insurance branch. The approximately 200-page version for motor vehicles (liability, other and total) costs 1,350.65 euros including VAT. It can be ordered from Maik Entrich by email or by phone on 0341 24659262.
