In response to the article on the Supreme Court’s ban on insurance limitations being ignored by the insurance companies (“Sąd Najwyższy zabronił ograniczania odszkodowań, a ubezpieczyciele swoje”), published on 29 June 2012 in “Gazeta Wyborcza”, on the gazeta.pl internet portal and the wyborcza.biz webside, the Polish Insurance Association will demand that the above mentioned press offices publish a press response. We were disappointed to note that the quotations from the insurance market representatives were taken out of the context and then false assertions were made, and the experts were assigned false intentions. Therefore, the written article throws a bad light at the insurance companies. As the Client’s trust is the most crucial value for the insurance sector, the Polish Insurance Association is deeply interested in explaining all the doubts related to this article. We believe that the press response published by the above press offices should clarify the issue.
Over 3 million of insurance policies were sold over the phone and the Internet during the first half of 2012. A total of over PLN 600 million was spent on these. Compared to the first half of 2011, the number of insurance policies in the direct system grew by 9.5 per cent and the amount of the premium gathered rose by 16.1 per cent.
Motor insurance still dominates the direct market – 80 per cent of the premium derives from motor civil liability and motor own damage insurance. A year earlier, the ratio amounted to almost 82 per cent. This means that there is a slow but steady increase in the number of non-motor insurance policies in the direct system, says Paweł Zylm, head of the direct insurance team at PIU, the president of the management board at BRE Ubezpieczenia.
The number of natural disasters insurance increased by 31 per cent. This means that the direct system is more and more often used for insurance of flats and houses.
Te aggregated data was gathered on the basis of information from 9 insurance companies: Allianz Direct New Europe, Axa Direct, Aviva, Benefia, BRE Ubezpieczenia, BZ-WBK Aviva, Liberty Direct, Link4 and Medica Polska.
30 teams enrolled for the football competition PIU Cup 2012. Below we present the updated schedule and rules of the competition.
Rules
Schedule
Changing room layout
NOTE:
Owing to the security requirements binding at the Pepsi Arena, only the persons previously reported to the competition organiser will be allowed to enter the Arena.
The persons injured in car accidents will be protected by the insurer to even over EUR 5 million. Starting from 11 June the guaranteed sums in civil liability motor insurance will grow. This means better protection of the injured.
The guaranteed sum, being the upper limit of the liability of the civil liability insurer, now amounts in Poland to EUR 2.5 million for personal damage and EUR 500 thousand for property damage. As from 11 June the limits will grow to EUR 5 million and EUR 1 million, respectively.
In accordance with the law, if it happens that the consequences of a road accident are higher than the guaranteed sum, any costs over the insurance limits are covered by the accident’s perpetrator.
‘The changes coming into force on 11 June limit such risk to the minimum. Of course, this is the benefit mainly for the insured but also for the driver who happened to cause damage. The probability that they will need to pay for the damage from their own money will be lower than so far’, says Jan Grzegorz Prądzyński, President of PIU Management Board.
Fortunately, tragic events related to payment of indemnity worth millions happen very rarely. The major part consists of fender benders in which nobody is injured. In 2011 the average civil liability indemnity amounted to about PLN 5,000.
It is worth remembering that the guaranteed sum is only the limit of the insurer’s liability. This does not mean that payments will actually be higher. ‘It is the same as the credit card limit – higher limit does not mean that we need to spend more money’, explains Jan Grzegorz Prądzyński. For that reason, among others, it is hard to consider the very increase of the limits to be a price-generating factor. Of course, the price policy is an individual decision of each insurer, however, the growth of guaranteed sums has been known for 5 years, i.e. from June 2007. The insurers have already managed to prepare for that event.
We may not forget that on the Polish market there are at least several factors present affecting the growth of rates in civil liability insurance such as personal damage or redress costs.
The Uniqa team won the fourth football competition PIU Cup 2012. It is the third in row victory of Uniqa in the competition organised every year by the Association. In the final, Uniqa defeated the team of Link4 by penal kicks. The third place was taken by the team of TUW TUZ.
The individual award of the best scorer was granted to Bartłomiej Podobas of Aviva, and the best goal-keeper award – to Bartosz Jakubiel of Link 4.
This year was a record one both as regards the number of teams participating in the competition and the number of fans. The competition was attended by 30 teams supported by over 1,000 fans. As usual, the event was accompanied by a family barbecue picnic.
We already would like to invite everybody to the next year’s competition!
See the photo gallery of the competition.
The Uniqa team won the third futsal competition PIU Cup 2011. The silver medal was awarded to Ergo Hestia and the bronze medal – to Link4. In the final of the competition, we saw a fierce rivalry, which was solved only by penalty kicks. After the standard 15 minutes of match, the results table reflected a tie – 2:2. Finally, Uniqa won by penalty kicks 3:2. It is the second victory of this team in a row in the PIU Cup.
The match for the third place, in which Link4 defeated Gras Savoye 4:2, was also very exciting.
Individual awards were granted to Paweł Pachar of Ergo Hestia – the best goal-keeper, and Artur Lis of Warta – the best scorer, who scored eight goals.
This year’s PIU Cup was a record one not only with regard to the number of teams (finally 20 teams participated in the Cup) but also with regard to fan attendance. The playground was incessantly occupied by the youngest fans. The older fans supplemented their energy used up in supporting their teams at the grill stands. ‘I’m glad that our competition became a family feast’, says Jan Grzegorz Prądzyński, President of the PIU Management Board, summarising the event. During the award ceremony, he thanked all teams for participation in the Cup and congratulated the winners.
Already today PIU invites you to the next year’s fourth edition of PIU Cup 2012. Please find below the group classification and all of the results of matches of the cup phase.
Respectively: name of team/score/goals/goals lost
Group A
1. Ergo Hestia 12/13/1
2. Cardif 7/9/7
3. Axa Direct 4/6/10
4. MetLife Amplico 3/8/9
5. KUKE 3/6/15
Group B
1. Link4 12/11/1
2. Interrisk 7/4/5
3. Compensa 5/10/9
4. BRE Ubezpieczenia 3/6/9
5. TUW TUZ 1/3/10
Group C
1. Gras Savoye 12/8/3
2. Uniqa 9/10/6
3. Aviva 6/8/6
4. Insurance Faculty of the Poznań University of Economics 3/6/9
5. HDI 0/6/14
Group D
1. Warta 10/13/4
2. Liberty Direct 9/15/5
3. Nordea 7/10/6
4. PTR 3/5/13
5. Office of the Ombudsman of the Insured 0/3/18
Quarter-final:
Ergo Hestia – InterRisk 6:0
Gras Savoye – Liberty Direct 1:0
Link4 – Cardif 5:2
Warta – Uniqa 2:2 (penalty kicks 4:5)
Semi-final:
Ergo Hestia – Gras Savoye 2:1
Link4 – Uniqa 0:2
Third place match:
Gras Savoye – Link4 2:4
Final:
Ergo Hestia – Uniqa 2:2 (penalty kicks 2:3)
We wish to inform that the Polish Insurance Association is organising again the Competition of Leon Kozicki for the Best Master’s Thesis and Bachelor’s Thesis in the area of insurance. In autumn this year, the Competition will be officially concluded with giving awards to the authors of the selected theses.
We kindly encourage the students of master and bachelor courses to participate in the competition!
The theses, including the personal and address details of the authors, should be sent to the Polish Insurance Association at ul. Wspólna 47/49, 00-684 Warszawa, between 20 January and 30 September 2012. The theses will be assessed by the Assessment Committee consisting of the representatives of the world of science and insurance practice. From among the theses sent, we will select the tree best ones, whose authors will be awarded.
Entered in the competition may be graduation theses written at universities within master and bachelor courses. The condition for qualification of a thesis in the competition is the presentation of the opinions of the promoters on the thesis sent and the information that the authorities of the university/faculty have been informed about the competition.
The first prize in the competition of the Polish Insurance Association – apart from the diploma and prestige – is a prize of PLN 5,000. The second prize winner will receive PLN 3,000 and the third prize winner – PLN 1,500.
Please address your inquires also to: pracedyplomowe@piu.org.pl.
In the first quarter of this year, non-life insurers paid out to the customers over PLN 3.26 billion, according to the data collected by PIU. The life benefits reached over PLN 5.88 billion.
Motor market
Civil liability insurance (OC) premium amounted to nearly PLN 2.15 billion, whereas accident and theft (AC) premium – to PLN 1.47 billion. OC revenues grew by 12.6% year to year. In the same period the number of the insured increased by 3.6%. This means that last year, the average OC premium grew.
‘It is still related to fuller cover of the aggrieved parties: growing costs of personal damages – treatment, annuities, rehabilitation or redress’, explains Jan Grzegorz Prądzyński, President of PIU Management Board.
Indemnities and gross benefits in Q.1, 2012 amounted to PLN 1.3 billion on account of OC and PLN 922 million on account of AC policies. These amounts are several per cent lower than last year, which is not related to lower indemnities but to a smaller number of damages. In the case of AC, the number of damages dropped to 194 thousand from 227 thousand last year, and in the case of OC – to 279 thousand from 310 thousand last year. The reasons for the lower number of damages are mainly:
• less severe winter, and specifically smaller snowfall,
• more expensive fuel, which has translated into lower traffic intensity and the resulting smaller probability of damage.
It may also be assumed that in Q.1 this year the customers reported minor damages less frequently. This refers mainly to AC insurance. For some time, the insurers have had the possibility to verify the right to discounts declared by their customers. This has made the drivers – capable of ‘keeping the discount or reporting a minor damage’ – select the first possibility as more cost-effective. Verification of the rights to discount is enabled by the database kept by the Insurance Guarantee Fund.
Property market
On the property market (excluding motor insurance) further decrease of premiums has been observed, as related to fire or natural forces insurance, or other property damage. The policies are mainly related to real estate. The insurers collected about PLN 3.27 billion on property insurance, excluding motor insurance, which is over 11% higher than last year.
The available market statistical data do not allow for the presentation of a complete image of the mandatory cultivation insurance. The data published by the insurers offering such products show, however, that Q.1 2012 was exceptional as regards the extent of damages related to that risk.
Life market
On the life market we have observed growth of premium collected on short-term agreements and non-structured products. The so called Class 1, consisting of short-term products beside of the classical life insurance, grew by 33% – to PLN 5.45 billion. One-off abrupt increases and decreases of written premium in that class occur quite often and reflect changes in the customers’ preferences as to short-term agreements.
Written premium in Class III, covering polices combined with insurance capital funds, grew by 13%. At the same time a relatively small group of customers decided to terminate policies with insurance capital funds, which has been confirmed by a small growth (4.9%) of the value of benefits paid out on that account.
Generally, life insurers collected PLN 9.4 billion premiums in Q.1 2012 – over 23% more than in the preceding year. They paid out PLN 5.88 billion benefits, nearly as much as last year.
Technical result and profit
The property insurers ended Q.1 with PLN 565 million in profits – 80% more than a year before. The change can be attributed mainly to the improvement of results by large insurance companies. A small growth of profitability was recorded by life insurers whose profit reached PLN 828 million – 9.2% more than last year.
Only six European health care systems are assessed worse than the Polish system according to the latest Euro Health Consumer Index (EHCI) report. The report compares health care systems every year, focusing mainly on the issues most important for the patients. EHCI is exceptional because the assessment, also for Poland, is made by independent foreign experts.
The Polish health care system falls behind again. We gained the total of 577 points in such aspects as access to medical procedures, access to medicines, abiding by the patients’ rights, etc. Except expert research and analysis the assessment consists of polling the patients’ opinions. We have been overtaken by the Czechs (694), Slovaks (675) and Spaniards (603). Hungary gained as many points as Poland. The research assessed negatively mainly the access to medical procedures and operations, as well as queues.
‘The assessment resulting from the report is made from the perspective of patients who are the most important persons for each good health care system. The results achieved by Poland clearly indicate that the system needs immediate changes. It must be remembered that the health of a society affects economic growth and the economic standing of a country, in a longer horizon’, says Dorota M. Fal, PIU Management Board Advisor for Health Insurance.
The EHCI research has again assessed the Dutch system as the best (872). ‘It is a country where no National Health Fund is operating, every citizen has a private policy, and private insurers are responsible for the finance and coordination of treatment’, says Jan Grzegorz Prądzyński, President of PIU Management Board.
PIU has long been discussing changes in the Polish health care system with the Ministry of Health. In April 2011 – during public consultations – the PIU experts prepared a bill regarding popularisation of private health insurance. Such solution would eliminate the problem of queues.
In 2008, PIU proposed a comprehensive plan – the only one so far – of introducing a system of competitive private health funds in Poland. The plan alluding to the Dutch solutions has now been updated. Introduction of competition between private funds was announced several months ago by Health Minister Bartorsz Arłukowicz.
The complete report in English may be found on the Internet site of the Swedish Health Consumer Powerhouse research institute making the research every year.
http://www.healthpowerhouse.com/
On 22 March, students from upper-secondary schools will take part in an internship, lasting several hours, at the Polish Insurance Association as part of the “Entrepreneurship Day” project.
“Entrepreneurship Day” is being organised in Poland for the ninth time by the Young Entrepreneurship Foundation (Fundacja Młodzieżowej Przedsiębiorczości) in cooperation with the Chancellery of The President of Poland. The idea behind it is to engage entrepreneurs in the education of young people, as well as to create an innovative platform for delivering knowledge about the functioning of the labour market to the young.
The participation of the Polish Insurance Association in the “Entrepreneurship Day” will enable future employees to choose right education and career. Young people will be able to verify information about their dream jobs. They will also learn what competencies and knowledge is expected of candidates for a particular occupation.
Participation in the programme will be an opportunity for the students to:
• take part in a several-hour internship in a selected workplace,
• verify their idea of a dream profession,
• obtain information about the education, skills and predispositions necessary to practice in a given profession,
• experience the connection between education and professional career,
• explore company organisation and management.
