The gross value of premiums held in the Kingdom’s insurance market reached $201.7 million as of the third quarter of 2020, up 8.2 percent over the same period last year, according to an insurance market update report by the Insurance Association of Cambodia.
The 8.2 percent overall increase in premium values was the result of same-period growth in the general insurance market of 18.2 percent, growth in the life insurance market of 2.8 percent that lessened the impact of the 22 percent decrease in micro-sized insurance market premiums on the market as a whole.
The general insurance market continued to grow significantly, with gross premiums valued at $87.9 million in the third quarter of 2020, up from $74.4 million in the third quarter of 2019.
In the general insurance category, the report identified 74.2 percent growth in engineering insurance, a 35.3 percent increase in marine, aviation and transportation (MAT) premium valuation, a 21.5 percent uptick in health insurance, an increase of 15.9 percent in property insurance and a 7 percent increase in vehicle insurance, with other insurances rising 15. 1 percent.
Youk Chamroeunrith, Forte Insurance managing director, said the insurance market saw growth despite the pandemic having had a direct impact on some insurance products, because other category products became more popular.
He said that travel and logistic insurance was affected after people stopped travelling and cargo transport dropped significantly. However, insurance in the automotive and medical categories saw [significant] growth.
“[There were few] sales for insurance in the travel sector because there were no customers [looking] to purchase it,” Chamroeunrith said. “[Despite that,] for the first nine months [of 2020], Forte saw [growth of] around 10 percent,” he added.
In the overall market, the life insurance sector grew slightly by 2.8 percent in the third quarter of 2020, compared with the same period in 2019, according to the report.
The report said that gross premium value for the life insurance market in the first three quarters of 2020 reached about $109.8 million, up from $106.8 million for the same period in 2019. The report said that because life insurance products are a form of personal insurance, this small increase indicates the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic upon people.
The micro-sized insurance market was severely affected by the pandemic. The report stated that micro-sized insurance premiums in the first three quarters of 2020 reached $4.1 million, a year-on-year decrease of 21.7 percent.
The association said that the insurance market provides a financial safety net to citizens as well as businesses that have been at risk in the past, adding that the amount of compensation paid by insurance companies to customers as of the third quarter of 2020 amounted to $21.7 million. Claims paid out to policyholders in the general insurance category were $16.1 million, with $4.7 million paid out in the life insurance category and $750,000 paid out to micro-size insurance policy holders.
This article was first published in Khmer Times. All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources.
